GABR IEL L E UN I O N // L AR RY CULPEPPER // T R ACTOR PUNK JANUARY/FEBRUARY 2017
ICE AGE TUSKS VS. BLOOD IVORY How Nebraska’s State Fossil (the Mammoth) Feeds Global Demand for Ivory
3228 S 187 St., Omaha
$675,000
Stunning 1.5 story Mediterranean home in West Bay Woods 2. Spacious kitchen with walk-in pantry. Cozy family room with 2-story ceiling. Gorgeous master suite. Second floor with large loft and 2nd laundry room. Covered deck.
$625,000
Unique in every way. Zoned residential. Country living in the city and an amazing location! Home has been in family for over 1/2 century. Wood floors under carpet. Almost 1800 sq ft of garage space. Beautiful setting. Approx. 3 acres.
Teri and Sara • 402-917-2967
1802 N 197 St, Omaha
$535,000
Marty Evans • 402-968-1300
$580,000
Sparkling CROWN, LTD 1.5 story offering comfort plus energy efficiency! Dramatic 18 ft stone fireplace in great room! Main floor master BR with FP and 3 BRs upstairs all have walk-in closets and bath access. Large garage is 1,230 SF with floor drain.
9620 Frederick St., Omaha
$529,900
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Absolutely amazing contemporary ranch home in the heart of District 66! Spectacular private wooded, landscaped ½ acre lot. Beautiful in-ground pool. Over 4,200 fsf with 4 bedrooms, 4 baths.
29471 Dobney Ave., Silver City, IA
2115 S 212 St., Elkhorn
$579,900
Royal Homes Jefferson plan. Features Cambria countertops, walk-in pantry, Bosch appliances, hardwood floors, upstairs playroom, stone fireplace, covered composite deck. Certified High Performance home.
2627 S 191 Cir., Omaha
$529,999
Home has many ex tras ! K itchen measurements include Hear th Room. Wet Bar includes granite counter tops, microwave, and refrigerator. Beautifully landscaped yard. Projection T V in lower level.
Joe Andresen • 402-681-7540
$521,000
Spacious home, large walk out upper and lower decks, separate apar tment w / private entrance via 3 car garage. All appliances stay in apt and house. 27.4 3 acres. New roof, gut ters, AC, water heater.
Cindy Carnes • 402-681-9210
$625,000
Spectacular 5 acre setting, 56x40 outbuilding, 24x40 heated and cooled shop and 24x10 greenhouse. Over 3,800 sq ft 2-story. Large Burr Oak trees. Deer and turkey abound. No covenants. Reverse osmosis w/rural water & septic.
John Greguska • 402-612-0594
The Rensch Group • 402-391-5333
Royal Homes new 1 1/2 story plan with main floor master and flex room, 2 story ceiling in family room, walkout basement, Cambria quartz counter tops, Certified High Performance home. Bosch appliances.
John Greguska • 402-612-0594
2442 S 219 St., Omaha
15112 Highway 50, Louisville
The Lichter Team • 402-680-2875
Sandie McPadden • 402-871-5343
Stunning Huntington Homes 5 bed/5 bath 2 story with a fabulous gourmet kitchen, and grand master suite. 2nd floor bonus room. All bdrms include en suite bathrooms.
1623 S 208 St., Elkhorn
$649,900
This custom built Archistructure home is located on Timber Shores Lake w/ 112.01 feet of lake front. 4 season room with its own heating and cooling, 976 sq ft heated garage, 10 x 10 boat garage door, large patio, and elevator rough-in.
BJ Brown • 402.681.7774
Deanne Fairfield • 402-212-1343
420 S 192 St., Elkhorn
5420 N 279 St., Valley
25906 Grace Cir., Glenwood, IA
$520,000
Some elements of this home include den, living & great room w/fireplace, gourmet kitchen, double ovens. Master en-suite with sitting area, European custom tiled shower. Finished lower level w/walkout, wet bar, spacious bedrooms.
Cindy Keil • 402-819-8553
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JANUARY
// FEBRUARY • 2017 / 4 / OMAHAMAGAZINE.COM
Spring is Coming To Spring is Coming To 51st Annual 51st Annual
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February February 9 9 -- 12 12
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Don’t Miss the Home & Garden Event of the Year! Don’t Miss the Home & Garden Event of the Year! Browse over 200.000 square feet of displays showcasing everything for the home - Inside & Out! Browse over 200.000 square ideas, feet ofwaterfalls, displays showcasing everything the home - Inside & Out! Featuring fresh design blooming flowers & thefor smells of Springtime! Featuring fresh design ideas, waterfalls, blooming flowers & the smells of Springtime!
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JANUARY
// FEBRUARY • 2017 / 6 / OMAHAMAGAZINE.COM
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contents THE USUAL SUSPECTS
64
10
From the Editor
12
Between the Lines
15
Calendar of Events
56
History Nebraska’s Capital: From Omaha to Lincoln
145 Obviously Omaha
Valentine’s Day Endeavors
169 Explore! 172 Instagram 174 Not Funny
One for the Books
ARTS + CULTURE 24
Visual Kim Darling
28
Cinema Gabrielle Union
30
Advertising Larry Culpepper
34
Music Gary Dean Davis
PROFILES 38
Sports Lindsay Wilson
44
Gen O Kobe Paras
48
People Jeff Zeleny
ADVENTURE:
52
People Lindsey and Tom Clements
Paradise for Bird Dogs and Dock Drivers
54
People Nick Manhart
FEATURES
58
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PHEASANT HAVEN COVER:
ICE AGE TUSKS VS. BLOOD IVORY How Nebraska’s State Fossil (the Mammoth) Feeds Global Demand for Ivory
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GIVING 72
Giving Calendar
OMAHA HOME
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146 Feature
Year of the Rooster
H84 Sandy’s Makeover
150 Profile
From a Spare Room to an Elegant Dressing Room
Jason Brasch
H86 Spaces
152 Review
H94 At Home
156 Guide
The Historian’s Personal Collection The Habrocks’ Louisville Farmhouse
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Birrieria El Chalan
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SPECIAL SECTIONS
H100 Feature
The Fabric of Life
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H110 Neighborhoods
Nurse of the Year Awards
Standing Bear Pointe ABOUT THE COVER Inside the University of Nebraska State Museum at Morrill Hall, a stuffed bull African elephant faces a room full of ancient and extinct relatives that once lived in Nebraska. The photo was digitally altered to imagine the elephant’s tusks ripped out by poachers. If the ongoing ivory poaching crisis is not solved in Africa, modern elephants could go the way of the Nebraska state fossil—extinct.
H114 Harvest
Stalking Stocked Rainbow Trout
H118 Architecture
Clarence Wigington
H122 Transformations Colorado Modern
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131 60PLUS Opener 132 Feature
Marlin Briscoe
138 Health
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141 Nostalgia
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142 Active Living
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// FEBRUARY • 2017 / 9 / BESTOFOMAHA.COM
Letter
FROM THE EDITOR EXECUTIVE EDITOR DOUG MEIGS
NEBRASKA’S STATE FOSSIL AND THE SESQUICENTENNIAL HE NEW YEAR marks the 150th
anniversary of Nebraska’s statehood. This issue of Omaha Magazine touches on that milestone. But we don’t stop there. We take you even deeper into prehistoric times…15,000 years ago, back when mammoths roamed what would eventually become our great state…and 15 million years ago, around the time ancient elephants were en route to North America.
T
Growing up in Nebraska, I always marveled at the fossils of mammoths found in museums across the state. Ever since childhood, I have been intrigued by the ancient giants—remains of Ice Age creatures that have been unearthed from all but three of Nebraska’s counties. When I was living and working as a journalist in Hong Kong, I was surprised to discover shops selling traditional Chinese ivory carvings made from mammoth tusks. The prehistoric ivory allows Chinese craftsmen to carve exquisite works of art. Unfortunately, traditional Chinese ivory carving has decades of association with the tragic killing of African elephant populations. A global ban on elephant ivory has been in place since 1989, but the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora does not regulate extinct animals or fossils. The strange dynamics involving my state’s official fossil seized my interest. Mammoth ivory is legal, and prehistoric tusks are offering an alternative to living elephants’ ivory. I began research and writing about China’s mammoth ivory trade for a story published in China Daily’s HK Edition, where I was a staff feature writer. After two years of working at the newspaper, I received sad news. My father was diagnosed with colon cancer. I was heading home.
JANUARY
But before leaving Asia, I took a month-long reporting trip across mainland China to explore the mammoth ivory supply chain for my former employer’s magazine, China Daily Asia Weekly. The reporting trip took me to Beijing, Fujian, Inner Mongolia, Heilongjiang, and Guangdong before I returned to Omaha. My travels preceded the first mammoth ivory bans in the U.S. Since then, four states have outlawed the sale and purchase of mammoth ivory. More recently, China (the world’s largest market for black market ivory) has partnered with the U.S. (the world’s second largest market for black market ivory) to tighten restrictions on the ivory trade. China’s increasing regulatory pressure would likely result in growing demand for the mammoth tusks locked in Arctic permafrost. Before I joined Omaha Magazine, a follow-up mammoth ivory research trip was in order. I returned to Asia with my favorite translator—i.e., my wife (who has written an introduction to Omaha’s most authentic Chinese cuisine in this issue)—and refreshed my research with ivory traders in Hong Kong and Beijing. Funding for the reporting trip came from The Andy Award, an international reporting grant from the University of Nebraska at Omaha (named after Harold W. Anderson, former publisher of the Omaha World-Herald). This issue’s cover story is a byproduct of that Andy Award. The trip also provided the basis for a paper that I presented at a panel during the American Anthropological Association’s annual conference in Minneapolis, Minnesota, in November. I hope you enjoy the story and this issue of Omaha Magazine. Happy New Year!
// FEBRUARY • 2017 / 10 / OMAHAMAGAZINE.COM
FEBRUARY 10 & 12, 2017 JANUARY // FEBRUARY 2017 VOLUME 33 // ISSUE 7 Publisher
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EDITORIAL Executive Editor
DOUG MEIGS
Associate Editor
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LEO ADAM BIGA · SENA EICHERT · MICHELE FAN JUDY HORAN · GREG JERRETT · JARED KENNEDY LISA LUKECART · SUSAN MEYERS · SHANE MONAGHAN ROBERT NELSON · ALEX PRIEST · NIZ PROSKOCIL MAX SPARBER · OTIS TWELVE · ANNE WALSH ASHLEY WEGNER · SARAH WENGERT · MATT WILLIAMS
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All versions of Omaha Magazine are published bimonthly by Omaha Magazine, LTD, P.O. Box 461208, Omaha NE 68046-1208. Telephone: 402-884-2000; fax: 402-884-2001. Subscription rates: $19.95 for 6 issues (one year), $24.95 for 12 issues (two years). No whole or part of the contents herein may be reproduced without prior written permission of Omaha Magazine, excepting individually copyrighted articles and photographs. Unsolicited manuscripts are accepted, however no responsibility will be assumed for such solicitations. Best of Omaha®™ is a registered tradename of Omaha Magazine.
JANUARY
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Between A LOOK AT THREE OMAHA MAGAZINE TEAM MEMBERS DEREK JOY - Senior Graphic Designer Derek came to Omaha Magazine highly recommended…after all, the person previously sitting at his desk was his wife, Rachel Joy. Derek became interested in art at age 5, when he began painting miniatures, a hobby he continues to this day. His interest in art took him to the University of Nebraska-Lincoln, where he earnedd a BFA, with an emphasis in painting, illustration, and design. He previously worked as a graphic designer at Lovely Skin. In his off hours, he is a musician, specializing in synthesizers. He and Rachel are parents to their young star, Nova, who turned 1 in Nov(emb)a.
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MADY BESCH - Graphic Designer Mady swam her way through Millard West, participating on the varsity swim team for all four years of high school. She then attended UNO, earning a Bachelor of Art in Studio Art with a concentration in graphic design and minors in art history and mass communication. If that didn’t keep her busy enough…she was also the art director for the American Institute for Graphic Arts UNO. In her spare time (if it can be called that), she reads and watches psychological thrillers, spends time with her cats Prince and Billie Jean, and attends concerts and festivals—her favorites included Lana Del Rey at Red Rocks in Morrison, Colorado, and Dancefestopia in Kansas City.
VICKI VOET - Executive Sales Manager Vicki is back in the sales saddle at Omaha Publications after a one-year, nine-month absence. While gone, Vicki realized that her passion was at the magazine, working with the city she has lived in, and loved, her entire life. She enjoys entertaining friends and family, and her favorite pastime is shopping with her daughter, Chelsea. She also enjoys spending time with her son, Josh, her husband, Perry, and her cute little Shih Tzu, Chip.
JANUARY
// FEBRUARY • 2017 / 12 / OMAHAMAGAZINE.COM
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EVENTS
HAYV KAHRAMAN
Through Jan. 8 at Joslyn Art Museum, 2200 Dodge St. Hayv Kahraman draws on sources including Renaissance painting, Japanese woodblock prints, and Persian miniatures to create work that considers the repercussions of being displaced from one’s home. Admission: Free. 402-342-3300 -joslyn.org
THE KING IS DEAD! THE REGICIDE OF CHARLES I
Through Jan. 8 at The Durham Museum, 801 S. 10th St. This exhibit shows the rise and fall of England’s King Charles I and his kingdom. Running in conjunction with this exhibit is “War, Wealth, and Stable Repairs.” Admission: $11 adults, $8 seniors, $7 children ages 3-12, free to ages 2 and under. 402-444-5071 -durhammuseum.org
WAR, WEALTH, AND STABLE REPAIRS
Through Jan. 8 at The Durham Museum, 801 S. 10th St. This exhibit shows the old monarchs of Europe did not always yield absolute power that changed the course of history. Admission: $11 adults, $8 seniors, $7 children ages 3-12, free to ages 2 and under. 402-444-5071 -durhammuseum.org
YMCA OF GREATER OMAHA: 150 YEARS OF PROVIDING FIRSTS
Through Jan. 8 at Durham Museum, 801 S. 10th St. On April 2, 1866, the YMCA first began to put Christian principles into practice through programs that build healthy spirit, mind, and body for all citizens of Omaha. Today, they continue to strengthen the community through programs focused on youth development, healthy living, and social responsibility. Admission: $11 adults, $8 seniors age 62 and older, $7 children ages 3-12, and free to ages 2 and under. 402-444-5071. -durhammuseum.org
AMERICAN SPIRITS: THE RISE AND FALL OF PROHIBITION
Through Jan. 29 at Durham Museum, 801 S. 10th St. Step back in time to an era of flappers and suffragists, bootleggers and temperance workers, and legends like Al Capone and Carry Nation. Admission: $11 adults, $8 seniors age 62 and older, $7 children ages 3-12, and free to age 2 and under. 402-444-5071. -durhammuseum.org
ART AND MUSEUM EXHIBITS PASSION & OBSESSION: FROM THE COLLECTION Through May 6 at K ANEKO, 1111 Jones St. This exhibit celebrates both the passion of the artist to create and the obsession of the connoisseurs who collect. Admission: Free. 402-341-3800. -thekaneko.org/passion
DIRT MERIDIAN: PHOTOGRAPHS BY ANDREW MOORE
Through Jan. 8 at Joslyn Art Museum, 2200 Dodge St. During the past decade, artist Andrew Moore made more than a dozen trips to photograph along the Jan 100th meridian, from North Dakota to the Texas panhandle. This is a ticketed event: $10 adults, free for ages 17 and younger, college students with ID, and Joslyn members. 402-342-3300. -joslyn.org
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JANUARY
// FEBRUARY • 2017 / 15 / BESTOFOMAHA.COM
OMAHA MAGAZINE
HOMEBREW: A SPIRITED HISTORY OF OMAHA
Through Jan. 29 at Durham Museum, 801 S. 10th St. Krug. Storz. Metz. These were some of Omaha’s founding brewers. Local brews fueled the workers who helped the city expand so rapidly and gave power to the mob bosses of the Prohibition era. Admission: $11 adults, $8 seniors age 62 and older, $7 children ages 3-12, free to age 2 and under. 402-444-5071. -durhammuseum.org
OPERATION: “OMAHA IVY” BY E. TAYLOR SHOOP
CALENDAR
SEARCHING FOR THE SEVENTIES: THE DOCUMERICA PHOTOGRAPHY PROJECT
Feb. 18 through April 30 at Durham Museum, 801 S. 10th St. Drawing inspiration from the Great Depression-era Farm Security Administration photography project, the photographers of the Environmental Protection Agency’s DOCUMERICA project created a portrait of America in the early and mid-’70s. Admission: $11 adults, $8 seniors age 62 and older, $7 children ages 3-12, free to age 2 and under. 402-444-5071. -durhammuseum.org
Jan. 4-Feb. 20 at Lauritzen Gardens, 100 Bancroft St. Shoop has focused his lens on ivy to create his unique, kaleidoscopic compositions. This show focuses on the city’s collection of ivy. Included with garden admission: $10 for adults, $5 for children ages 6 to 12, free for members and children younger than 6. 402-346-4002. -lauritzengardens.org
CAROLYN DORFMAN DANCE COMPANY’S THE LEGACY PROJECT: A DANCE OF HOPE
Jan. 19 at the Orpheum Theater, 409 S. 16th St. Told through the lens of the Holocaust and its devastation, hope inspires the journey to a land that promises new beginnings. 7:30 p.m. Tickets: $15-$36. 402-345-0606. -ticketomaha.com
AROUND THE WORLD IN 80 DAYS
Jan . 20 through Feb. 12 at O maha Communit y Pl ayhou se, 6915 Ca ss St . Two men journey around the world to win a simple wager, but they leave an incredible story about loyalty and friendship in their wake. Wednesdays: $28 adults, $18 students; ThursdaysSundays: $36 adults, $22 students. 402-553-0800. -omahaplayhouse.com
THE MET: LIVE IN HD 2016-2017 SEASON— ROMÉO ET JULIETTE (GOUNOD)
IMAGINATION: CELEBRATING 40 YEARS OF PLAY EXHIBIT
Jan. 21 and 25 at Film Streams at the Ruth Sokolof Theater, 1340 Mike Fahey St. Diana Damrau and Vittorio Grigolo perform as opera’s classic lovers in Charles Gounod’s lush Shakespeare adaptation. Gianandrea Noseda conducts the sumptuous score. Admission: $20 for Film Streams and Opera Omaha Members, $24 adults, $10 students. 402-933-0259. -filmstreams.org
Through April 16 at Omaha Children’s Museum, 500 S. 20th St. The museum is bringing back fan favorites from the past 40 years. Admission: $12 adults and kids, $11 seniors, free for children (under 2) and members. 402-342-6164. -ocm.org
FIRST FRIDAY OLD MARKET
THE TRUE STORY OF THE THREE LITTLE PIGS
Jan. 6 and Feb. 3 at various Old Market locations (Harney to Jackson streets and 10th to 13th streets). Stroll distinctive brick streets to live music, ride Ollie the Trolley for free between venues, and ignite your imagination with art. 6 to 9 p.m. Free. -firstfridayoldmarket.com
NATURE CONNECTS: ART WITH LEGO BRICKS
Jan. 14 through May 15 at Lauritzen Gardens, 100 Bancroft St. Sean Kenney’s third indoor exhibit features 13 displays with larger-than-life sculptures. Included with garden admission, which is: $10 for adults, $5 for children ages 6 to 12, and free for members and children younger than 6. 402-346-4002. -lauritzengardens.org
ART EXHIBIT: OMAHA ARTISTS CO-OP
Ja n . 27 t h r ou g h Fe b. 12 a t t he Rose Theater, 2 0 01 Far nam S t . Join intrepid go-getter journalist Lillian McGill live in the ready-for-reality-TV courtroom for the trial of the century to determine if the wolf we all know as Big Bad is truly guilty of the crimes of which he has been accused. 7 p.m. Fridays, 2 and 5 p.m. Saturdays, and 2 p.m Sundays. Tickets: $20. 402-345-4849. -rosetheater.org
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Feb. 23 through April 3 at Lauritzen Gardens, 100 Bancrof t St. Local artists will exhibit their works in the gardens. Included with garden admission: $10 for adults, $5 for children ages 6 to 12, and free for members and children younger than 6. 402-346-4002. Jan. -lauritzengardens.org
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IPerforming Arts
THE MET: LIVE IN HD 2016-2017 SEASON—NABUCCO (VERDI)
S a t u r d a y, Ja n . 7, a n d We d n e s d a y, Jan . 11 at Film Streams at the Ruth Sokolof Theater, 1340 Mike Fahey St . The legendary Plácido Domingo brings another new baritone role to the Met under the baton of his longtime collaborator James Levine. Tickets: $10-$24. 402-933-0259. -filmstreams.org
THUMBELINA
Jan. 14 through Feb. 5 at the Rose Theater, 2001 Farnam St. Thumbelina is a flower-sized girl determined to discover the true meaning of friendship. This world premiere production uses inventive puppetry and innovative design. Saturdays and Sundays at 9:30 and 11 a.m.; select Tuesdays at 10 a.m. Tickets: $12. 402-345-4849. -rosetheater.org
JANUARY
THE SOUND OF MUSIC
Jan. 24-29 at the Orpheum Theater, 409 S. 16th St. The hills are alive in this brand-new production of The Sound of Music, directed by three-time Tony Award winner Jack O’Brien. Tickets: $35-$110. 402-345-0606. -ticketomaha.com
ÆTHERPLOUGH
Jan. 27-28 at the K ANEKO, 1111 Jones St. This group will perform genesis 2.0, a variety of dance styles that aim to provide tools and infrastructure to encourage risk taking and innovation. Dance forms explored include butoh, aerial silk, burlesque, and modern dance. Back-to-back performances Friday and Saturday with one performance at 6 p.m., and the next beginning at 8 p.m. Tickets: $15. 402-341-3800. -aetherplough.com
HIR
Feb. 2-26 at Bluebarn Theatre, 1106 S. 10th St. Somewhere in the suburbs, Isaac has returned from the wars to help take care of his ailing father, only to discover a household in revolt. 7:30 p.m. Thursdays-Saturdays; 6 p.m. Sundays, Feb. 12 and 19, and 2 p.m. Sunday, Feb 26 . Tickets: $25-$30. 402-345-1576. -bluebarn.org
// FEBRUARY • 2017 / 16 / OMAHAMAGAZINE.COM
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JANUARY
// FEBRUARY • 2017 / 17 / BESTOFOMAHA.COM
teRRy and Jill PeteRSen
OMAHA MAGAZINE
WHERE THE WILD THINGS LIVE WITH PHOTOGRAPHER VINCENT J. MUSI
Feb. 7 at Holland Performing Arts Center, 1200 Douglas. For a story on “Exotic Pets” that appeared in the April 2014 National Geographic, Vincent J. Musi explored the deep connections some people have with creatures you can’t get at the pet store. Tickets: $10-$25. 402-345-0606. -ticketomaha.com
NO GETTER WITH MOM JEANS, SPORTS, AND GRADUATING LIFE
15
Feb. 14 at Orpheum Theater, 409 S. 16th St. Elvis Lives! features hand-picked finalists from Elvis Presley Enterprises’ worldwide Ultimate Elvis Tribute Artist Contest. 7:30 p.m. Tickets: $35-$65. 402-345-0606. -ticketomaha.com
BAZILE MILLS EP RELEASE
Jan. 8 at Reverb Lounge, 6121 Military Ave. Four Omaha dudes with similar and different influences. Emo/ punk songs came together with ease—their EP, Fitting, was released last year. 8 p.m. Tickets: $7. 402-884-5707. -reverblounge.com
Jan.
ELVIS LIVES!
CALENDAR
Jan. 21 at Reverb Lounge, 6121 Military Ave. Bazile Mills is based around songwriter David Mainelli and features lead guitarist Tim Rozmajzl, singer Laura Streeter, rhythm guitarist/vocalist Sam Vetter, bassist/lap steel guitarist Dan Stein, and drummer Robb Clemens. 9 p.m. Tickets: $8. 402-884-5707. -reverblounge.com
COLD CAVE WITH DRAB MAJESTY
Jan. 15 at the Waiting Room, 6212 Maple St. This band has become a name synonymous with the contemporary resurgence of darkwave and synth pop sub-genres. 9 p.m. Tickets: $12 advance/$15 day of show. 402-884-5353. -waitingroomlounge.com
THE LUMINEERS: THE CLEOPATRA WORLD TOUR
Jan. 17 at CenturyLink Center, 455 N. 10th St. Two-time Grammy-nominated artist The Lumineers will be embarking on their first-ever North American arena tour. 7 p.m. Tickets: $30-$60. 1-800-745-3000. -ticketmaster.com
HUCK FINN
Feb. 24 -March 12 at the Rose Theater, 2001 Farnam St. The great American novel comes to life in a thrilling and deeply funny adaptation. Huck Finn flees the claws of “civilization” for the freedom of the mighty Mississippi. Along the way, he comes across Jim, an escaped slave. The journey downriver is a real education for Huck. 7 p.m. Fridays, 2 and 5 p.m. Saturdays, and 2 p.m. Sundays. Tickets: $20. 402-345-4849. -rosetheater.org
concerts CASEY DONAHEW Jan. 6 at the Waiting Room, 6212 Maple St. In just over 10 years, Casey Donahew has risen from being a favorite on the local Texas music scene to a nationally popular touring act who sells out venues across the country. 9 p.m. Tickets: $25. 402-884-5353. -waitingroomlounge.com
ANDY MCKEE
Jan. 7 at the Waiting Room, 6212 Maple St. Andy McKee is among the world’s finest acoustic guitarists. He entertains both the eye and the ear as he magically transforms the steel string guitar into a full orchestra. 8 p.m. Tickets: $20 advance/$25 day of show. 402-884-5353. -waitingroomlounge.com
JOSH ABBOTT BAND
JAMISON ROSS
Jan. 20 at the Holland Performing Arts Center, 1200 Douglas St. Drummer and vocalist Jamison Ross delivers his hard-hitting, rhythmic jazz in Omaha for the first time. 8 p.m. Tickets: $30. 402-345-0606. -ticketomaha.com
NO SHELTER WITH BADMOTORFINGER
Jan. 25 at the Waiting Room, 6212 Maple St. Josh Abbott Band has become one of the leading country acts in Texas music, winning four trophies in the inaugural Texas Regional Radio Awards. 9 p.m. Tickets: $20. 402-884-5353. -waitingroomlounge.com
Jan.
25
Jan. 21 at the Slowdown, 729 N. 14th St. No Shelter is a Rage Against The Machine tribute band, and Badmotorfinger offers the ultimate Soundgarden tribute experience. All ages. 9 p.m. Tickets: $8 advance/$10 day of show. 402-345-7569. -slowdown.com
JANUARY
TURNPIKE TROUBADOURS WITH DALTON DOMINO
Jan. 26 at the Waiting Room, 6212 Maple St. Turnpike Troubadours are a hard band to define. Take some steel-guitar country music, throw in some punk rock, and add that fiddler from the honky-tonk. 9 p.m. Tickets: $30. 402-884-5353. -waitingroomlounge.com
// FEBRUARY • 2017 / 18 / OMAHAMAGAZINE.COM
Omaha Magazine • Calendar of Events
Choose from many dazzling performances in our MasterWorks, Pops, Rocks, Family, Movie Music and Symphony Joslyn series!
*
OMAHA MAGAZINE
CALENDAR
CHERRY GLAZERR WITH SLOW HOLLOWS
Feb.
Feb. 1 at the Slowdown, 729 N. 14th St. The off-kilter noise pop sound of L.A. quartet Cherry Glazerr was born in 2012 when high school student and singer-songwriter Clementine Creevy began recording songs in her bedroom. All ages. 8 p.m. Tickets: $12 advanced/$14 day of show. 402-345-7569. -slowdown.com
1
JAN. 20 – FEB. 12, 2017
FEB. 10– MARCH 12, 2017
on sale Dec. 13
on sale Jan. 24
MARCH 3– APRIL 2, 2017
on sale Feb. 14
TWENTY ONE PILOTS sponsors:
sponsors:
Rich & Fran Juro
2016–17 Pegasus Travel Tours
media sponsor: KPTM
sponsors:
media sponsor: Cox
WoodmenLife
media sponsor: KMTV
6915 CASS STREET | (402) 553-0800 | OMAHAPLAYHOUSE.COM
Feb. 1 at CenturyLink Center, 455 N. 10th St. Twenty One Pilots currently consists of lead vocalist and keyboardist Tyler Joseph and drummer Josh Dun. The duo rose to fame in the mid-2010s, after several years of touring and independent releases. 7 p.m. Tickets: $39-$49. 1-800-745-3000. -ticketmaster.com
Whether it is day or night, inside or out, Joslyn has so much to offer. FREE GENERAL ADMISSION
(paid ticketed admission for some exhibitions)
THURSDAYS: Open ‘til 8 pm! SCULPTURE GARDENS Open and free – all day every day!
explore AT
NOW
Joslyn Art Museum features works from antiquity to the present with an emphasis on 19th- and 20th-century European and American art. A fun, educational, relaxing, and artful destination for the whole family. Open Tuesday–Sunday, 10 am–4 pm. Just west of downtown Omaha. Café, Museum shop, and free parking.
EXCISION—THE PARADOX TOUR
Feb. 2 at Sokol Auditorium, 2234 S. 13th St. Excision DJ shows are like no other—a virtual apocalypse of twisting and morphing sounds turn massive crowds into a frenzy. Also performing: Cookie Monsta, Barely Alive, and Dion Timmer. All ages. 8 p.m. Tickets: $33.50 advance/$36 day of show. 402-346-9802. -sokolauditorium.com
February 12–May 7, 2017 Wild Spaces, Open Seasons: Hunting and Fishing in American Art 2200 Dodge St. | Omaha, NE | (402) 342-3300 | www.joslyn.org JANUARY
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OMAHA MAGAZINE
DISTANT WORLDS: MUSIC FROM FINAL FANTASY
Feb. 3 at Holland Performing Arts Center, 1200 Douglas. This international concert phenomenon features Nobuo Uematsu’s stirring music from one of the most popular video games of all time. 8 p.m. Tickets: $30$100. 402-345-0606. -ticketomaha.com
KEVIN GARRETT
Feb. 4 at the Slowdown, 729 N. 14th St. Garrett is known for poignant out-of-love songs that combine a reverence for classic soul with modern electronics and traditional instrumentation. All ages. 8 p.m. Tickets: $12 advance/$14 day of show. 402-345-7569. -slowdown.com
LEMURIA WITH CAYETANA, MIKEY ERG
Feb. 5 at the Slowdown, 729 N. 14th St. Lemuria, from Buffalo, New York, creates what sounds like sugary indie-pop, but is actually discordant notes, odd time signatures, and brutal riffs creating menacing yet catchy music. All ages. 8 p.m. Tickets: $13 advance/$15 day of show. 402-345-7569. -slowdown.com
AN EVENING WITH DAWES
Feb. 7 at the Waiting Room, 6212 Maple St. Dawes is an American folk-rock band from Los Angeles and is composed of brothers Taylor (guitars and vocals) and Griffin Goldsmith (drums), along with Wylie Gelber (bass) and Lee Pardini (keyboards). 9 p.m. Tickets: $23 advance/$25 day of show. 402-884-5353. -waitingroomlounge.com
ARIANA GRANDE
Feb. 7 at CenturyLink Center, 455 N. 10th St. The international pop sensation brings her signature cat and bunny ears to Omaha as part of her “Dangerous Woman Tour.” 7:30 p.m. Tickets: $30-$200. 1-800-745-3000. -ticketmaster.com
CALENDAR
SUSTO
Feb. 8 at the Slowdown, 729 N. 14th St. Susto is a Spanish word that frontman Justin Osborne learned as an anthropology student. The word refers to a folk illness and means “when your soul is separated from your body.” It also roughly translates to a panic attack. All ages. 8 p.m. Tickets: $8 advance/$10 day of show. 402-345-7569. -slowdown.com
ROCKBROOK VILLAGE
HOME-GROWN, LOCALLY OWNED. 108th & Center | rockbrookvillage.com
THE FIVE IRISH TENORS
Thursday, Feb. 9 at Holland Performing Arts Center, 1200 Douglas. The Five Irish Tenors fuse Irish wit and boisterous charm, with lyricism, dramatic flair, and operatic style to bring you a unique Irish tenor concert experience. 7:30 p.m. Tickets: $15-$35. 402-345-0606. -ticketomaha.com
Feb.
9
KELLER WILLAMS
Feb. 10 at the Waiting Room, 6212 Maple St. Williams’ music combines elements of bluegrass, folk, alternative rock, reggae, electronica/dance, jazz, funk, and other assorted genres. 9 p.m. Tickets: $23 advanced/$25 day of show. 402-884-5353. -waitingroomlounge.com
Why Helix is Better Most machines work front-to-back. Why Helix Istradition Better The Helix turns on its side— Why Helix Is Better literally. Withwork lateral (or side-to-side) Most machines front-to-
movement, you usetradition more muscles, which MostThe machines work front-toback. Helix turns on means you burn more fat than during back. The Helix turnsWith tradition its side— literally. lateralon a traditional workout—in the same its side-to-side) side— literally. With lateral ( or movement, you amount of time. ( or side-to-side) movement, you use more muscles, which means use which means youmore burn muscles, more fat than during a THANK YOU you burn more fat than during a traditional workout– in the same OMAHA! traditional workout– in the same amount of time. amount of time.
TRIBAL SEEDS WITH RAGING FYAH AND NATTALI RIZE
Feb. 11 at the Waiting Room, 6212 Maple St. Tribal Seeds is a reggae band based in San Diego, California. They have shared the stage with Slightly Stoopid, Matisyahu, The Wailers, and others. 9 p.m. Tickets: $17 advance/$20 day of show. 402-884-5353. -waitingroomlounge.com
MIKE DOUGHTY WITH WHEATUS
Feb. 15 at the Waiting Room, 6212 Maple St. Doughty is touring his largest band ever: a cello/ bass player, drums, another guitar player, an organ player, and a backing vocalist. Using hand gestures, Doughty acts as an improv conductor for the band. 8 p.m. Tickets: $17. 402-884-5353. -waitingroomlounge.com
HIPPO CAMPUS WITH MAGIC CITY HIPPIES
Feb. 16 at the Waiting Room, 6212 Maple St. Hippo Campus is an indie rock band that has performed at South by Southwest, Lollapalooza, Red Rocks, Conan, and Reading and Leeds. 9 p.m. Tickets: $15. 402-884-5353. -waitingroomlounge.com
HOT CLUB OF COWTOWN
Omaha’s First Brewing Company with Unique Jalapeño and Raspberry Beers. Thank You Omaha for Voting us the Best Indian Restaurant for 10 Years! Lunch: Thurs. & Fri. - 11am to 2pm Dinner: Sun. - Wed. - 5pm to 9:30pm Thurs. - Sat. - 4:30pm to 10pm
10922 Elm Street Omaha, NE 68144 402-392 7331 jaipurbrewhouse.com
Feb. 17 at Holland Performing Arts Center, 1200 Douglas. Hot Club of Cowtown has ascended from its unlikely beginnings in NYC’s East Village a decade ago to become the premier ambassador of hot jazz. 8 p.m. Tickets: $35. 402-345-0606. -ticketomaha.com
P.O.S. WITH DJ FUNDO AND CESCHI RAMOS
Feb. 18 at the Waiting Room, 6212 Maple St. Stefon Alexander, aka P.O.S., makes tight, declamatory music that builds on DJ Fundo’s penchant for grinding beats and radical lyrics. 9 p.m. Tickets: $15 advance/$18 day of show. 402-884-5353. -waitingroomlounge.com
* By an independent food analysis.
JANUARY
// FEBRUARY • 2017 / 21
OMAHA MAGAZINE
CALENDAR
NEBRASKA WIND SYMPHONY: “PAST, PRESENT, AND FUTURE”
Four Old Market
Feb. 19 at Omaha Conservatory of Music, 7023 Cass St. Music selections help reflect on our past, present, and future. 3 p.m. Admission at door: $10 adults/$5 students/seniors; free to children under age 12. 402-216-0325. -nebraskawindsymphony.com
Unique holiday décor, ornaments, collectibles and gifts for every season.
Chocolates and fudge made in our own kitchen, plus many other sweet temptations.
oTannenbaum.com • 402-345-9627
OldMarketCandy.com • 402-344-8846
Travel essentials plus downtown’s largest selection of souvenirs and Nebraska-made gifts.
Authentic Italian desserts, coffee, and FlavorBurst TM soft serve ice cream.
OldMarketSundries.com • 402-345-7646
DolciOldMarket.com • 402-345-8198
All located at 10th & Howard
Feb.
19
FLORIDA-GEORGIA LINE
Feb. 24 at CenturyLink Center, 455 N. 10th St. This popular country-music duo’s latest album, Dig Your Roots, includes songs with guests Ziggy Marley and the Backstreet Boys. Tickets: $28-$75. 1-800-745-3000. -ticketmaster.com
VALERIE JUNE: THE ORDER OF TIME TOUR
Feb. 24 at the Waiting Room, 6212 Maple St. Valerie June encompasses a mixture of folk, blues, gospel, soul, country, and bluegrass. 9 p.m. Tickets: $15. 402-884-5353. -waitingroomlounge.com
SEAN JONES QUARTET
Feb. 24 at Holland Performing Arts Center, 1200 Douglas. Sean Jones, the former lead trumpet for the Jazz at Lincoln Center Orchestra, stands out with his bright, muscular tone and impeccable sense of swing. 8 p.m. Tickets: $35. 402-345-0606. -ticketomaha.com
Progressive & Inclusive
Sundays Worship 8:30 & 10:50 AM Education Hour 9:35 AM
@FUMComaha . fumcomaha.org . 7020 Cass Street JANUARY
// FEBRUARY • 2017 / 22 / OMAHAMAGAZINE.COM
OMAHA MAGAZINE
CALENDAR
LETTUCE
Feb. 26 at the Slowdown, 729 N. 14th St. For more than two decades, Lettuce has brought a new vitality to classic funk, matching their smooth and soulful grooves with a hip-hop-inspired urgency and mastery of beat. All ages. 8 p.m. Tickets: $20 advance/$25 day of show. 402-345-7569. -slowdown.com
IMPROV ON FRIDAYS
Jan. 6, 13, 20, 27, at the Backline Comedy Theatre, 1618 Harney St. This weekly comedy show features local improvisers and special guests. If you are familiar with the Upright Citizens Brigade, The Backline is the closest in style in the entire Midwest. Tickets: $5. 9 p.m. 402-720-7670. -backlinecomedy.com
COCKTAILS & COLORING
miscellaneous A GOOD TRIP WITH SHANE MAUSS
Jan.
Jan. 6 at the Slowdown, 729 N. 14th St. Sponsored by the Multidisciplinary Association of Psychedelic Studies (MAPS), comedian Shane Mauss has appeared on Conan, Jimmy Kimmel, Showtime, and has specials on both Comedy Central and Netflix. 8 p.m. Tickets: $10-15. 402-345-7569. -slowdown.com
6
Jan. 25 and Feb. 22 at the Apollon, 1801 Vinston St. Come with your friends! Bring your own materials or stop into Oracle Art Supply to pick up coloring books and colored pencils. Cash bar. 6 to 9 p.m. Free. 402-884-0135. -apollonomaha.com.
KEVIN MCDONALD
Jan. 21 at the Backline Comedy Theatre, 1618 Harney St. Known for the TV sketch show The Kids in the Hall and as the alien Pleakely from Lilo & Stitch, McDonald will be in Omaha as part of a weekend workshop. 9 p.m. Tickets: $12. 402-720-7670. -backlinecomedy.com
Salute to Irel and
february 9, 2017 | 7:30 pm | Holland Center Sponsor:
Hospitality Sponsor:
JANUARY
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JOKE & DAGGER STANDUP
Saturday, Jan. 7 at the Backline Improv Theatre, 1618 Harney St. Hosted by Winslow Dumaine, this improv show is unique, morbid, and enjoyable. Tickets: $5. 402-720-7670. -backlinecomedy.com
2017 NEBRASKA CHINESE LUNAR NEW YEAR’S CELEBRATION
Feb. 4 at Westside Middle School, 8601 Arbor St. This event showcases Chinese culture and heritage with kids’ activities, Chinese cuisine, and traditional cultural performances, such as lion dance, martial arts demonstrations, folk dances, and more. Admission: $15 members, $20 non-members. 402-515-4491 -omahachinese.net
Event times and details may change
Check with venue or event organizer to confirm.
Feb.
4
TicketOmaha.com 402.345.0606
JANUARY
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OMAHA MAGAZINE
JANUARY
A+C // VISUAL
// FEBRUARY • 2017 / 25 / BESTOFOMAHA.COM
OMAHA MAGAZINE
O
MAHA-BASED ARTIST KIM Darling
(also known as Kim Reid Kuhn) is relishing a moment of “when one door closes, another opens.”
Darling, a prominent Benson First Friday contributor known for curating provocative exhibitions and performances at Sweatshop Gallery—and arguably one of the reasons why Benson’s aura is what it is today—is now applying her passion for community arts advocacy in new ways. “Sweatshop Gallery was always a launching point for larger social ideas,” she says. Since the gallery’s closing in October 2015, Darling has accepted four artist residencies at four different Omaha schools. She has collaborated on two projects, Swale and Wetland, with former Bemis Center artist Mary Mattingly. Those “socially engaged projects” were both featured in The New York Times, Art Forum, and ART 21. Darling is many things to many people: community activist, curator, mother, teacher, advocate, tastemaker, and artist. It is within their nexus that she has found new momentum—namely, public and socially engaged projects that define and build community through art with artists. Recent iterations include exhibitions and subsequent public programming at both The Union for Contemporary Art and the Michael Phipps Gallery at the Omaha Public Library. Darling presented her paintings and photographs in a gallery setting that later set the backdrop for public conversations around topics of police brutality, definitions of “public-ness,” and how race, gender, and socio-economic realities frame perceptions of place.
JANUARY
A+C // VISUAL
Yet despite a very public persona, her zeal for her own private painting practice is on fire. Darling’s iconography is distinct. With a distilled color pallet of coal black, turquoise, dirty white, and cotton candy pink, her canvases are peppered with oddly familiar shapes and punk references. Her aptly named “Rat’s Nest Studio” is nearly at capacity with in-progress paintings and sketches of future projects—each influencing the other. It is in her studio where the visible traces of a focused artist are on display. In the duality of social engagement and private studio making, inspiration is constant. For Darling, “these different perspectives feed me, helping keep my marks and ideas raw.” There is no mistaking Darling’s passion. Navigating a newly trodden path of community building through arts advocacy can be complicated, but for Darling, “there is a simple power in art making and storytelling.” This is where her art and life meet—an intersection of public discourse and art with an emphasis on communal and social concerns. With Darling’s ongoing efforts, this new chapter will continue to be a revolving door for opportunity, inspiration, and evolution. Visit kimdarling.net for more information.
// FEBRUARY • 2017 / 26 / BESTOFOMAHA.COM
Voted First Place BEST FAMILY DENTIST
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Gabrielle Union and husband Dwayne Wade received an introduction on the field of a Sept. 2, 2016 Huskers football home game against Fresno State.
JANUARY
// FEBRUARY • 2017 / 28 / BESTOFOMAHA.COM
OMAHA MAGAZINE
A+C // CINEMA
BY LEO ADAM BIGA // PHOTOGRAPHY PROVIDED BY NEBRASKA ATHLETICS // DESIGN BY MATT WIECZOREK
Gabrielle Union
A FORCE IN FRONT OF, AND AWAY FROM, THE CAMERA A
ACTRESS GABRIELLE UNION projects her nat-
ural intelligence and feistiness in whatever role she undertakes. The Omaha native is never at a loss for words or opinions. She decries Hollywood’s male-dominated, white-centric ways and lack of opportunities afforded to women of color. She recounts her experience as a rape survivor and preaches the need for women to speak up against violence. It took Union a while to be regarded a serious artist. Early roles included that of a wealthy suburban teenager in 10 Things I Hate About You, followed a year later by a role as a cheerleader in Bring It On. Twenty years later she’s matured into a real force both in front of and behind the camera. She expertly balances being a fashion- and fitness-conscious celebrity, the wife of NBA superstar Dwyane Wade, and a mother, actress, producer, and activist. It is not surprising that as her life has broadened, so has her work.
Ambitious projects such as Think Like a Man and Top Five find her giving deeper, more complex performances or satirizing her own mystique. Today, as the star of the popular and critically acclaimed BET series Being Mary Jane, she represents the modern American black woman navigating her way though personal and professional relationships. In mid-October, the actress sued for breach of contract and negligent misrepresentation, claiming the network is combining seasons four and five to lower her pay and extend her contract.
Further proof of her take-no-prisoners attitude was her role in one of the most talked about films of 2016, The Birth of a Nation. The film dramatizes the historic Nat Turnerled slave revolt, a subject of interest for Union that goes back to her Omaha childhood. “It was a story my mom made sure I knew about. I remember going to the library and her telling me to do research on him. It wasn’t until later I realized my mom had noted I was very passive in the face of adversity and injustice, and I wasn’t willing to speak up, not only for myself, but for anyone else. She thought I might need some additional heroes to look up to and she introduced me to the story of Nat Turner,” Union says.
The interest in Turner continued for years. “In college I learned even more about Nat Turner and I was drawn to the sense of pushback against oppression–the idea that there are stories situated in slavery where we are not waiting for someone else to save us but that we were actively trying to save ourselves. Really the story of black resistance and black liberation, I’ve always been drawn to.” When the script first came to her attention, she says she determined that, “I had to be a part of telling this incredibly powerful chapter of American history.” That chapter took years to produce. The film’s producer-writer-director, Nate Parker, who also portrays Turner, had a hard time getting financing for the project.
JANUARY
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“There’s a reason the Nat Turner story has never made it to the big screen [before now],” Union says. “There’s a lot of fear of black resistance and black liberation. We see that with what’s happening with Colin Kaepernick and the rest of the professional, college, and high school athletes who are taking a knee to combat and shed light on racism, discrimination, police brutality, inequality, oppression everywhere. We see the pushback, we see people protesting [being] labeled as unpatriotic. I feel quite the opposite. I don’t think there’s anything more American or patriotic than resistance to oppression.” With such a struggle ongoing, Union says, “I think there’s never been a better time for The Birth of a Nation to come out.” Union plays an unnamed character who does not speak. The part was written with dialogue but she and Parker decided the woman should be mute. “I just felt it would be much more symbolic and realistic if we stripped her of her voice, of the ability to speak, of the ability to have power over her own body and over the bodies of her family and her community,” Union says. “That was true for black women during slavery, and it’s still true for so many women, specifically black women, who are voiceless and powerless at the hands of oppressors. Sexual violence and racial inequality have always existed for black women at that very crucial intersection.” continued on page 149
JANUARY
// FEBRUARY • 2017 / 30 / OMAHAMAGAZINE.COM
OMAHA MAGAZINE
A+C // ADVERTISING BY ROBERT NELSON PHOTOGRAPHY BY BILL SITZMANN DESIGN BY MATT WIECZOREK
Th e
H O MAN WInvented the COLLEGE FOOTBALL FF PL AYO
LARRY CULPEPPER IS
either delusional or a consummate bullshitter, claiming, among other whoppers, that he created the College Football Playoff. He is raucous, chippy, and self-absorbed. His hair, shirt, visor, and flip-up glasses scream 1976. He’s a guy you’d buy a pop from, but likely shy away from having a beer with. But Culpepper, the fictional character brought to life by actor/improv pro Jim Connor, is an increasingly beloved traveling minstrel who now transcends the Dr. Pepper brand he was created to peddle. Three years after his birth in an ad campaign with a potentially short leash, Culpepper now is mobbed by fans during live appearances; is part of a 10-part, football-season-long ad series; is the face of Dr. Pepper’s $35 million sponsorship of the College Football Playoff; and, increasingly, is a media darling beyond the confines of paid advertising slots.
Larry Culpepper
For marketing purposes, Culpepper is from nowhere in particular. But in late August, Culpepper appeared on ESPN’s College Football Live and was asked to give his prediction for the playoff’s final four teams. His answer: Alabama, Clemson, LSU, and Nebraska (fresh off their losing season). “Nebraska?” One commentator scoffed, before asking a cohort, “Is he from Nebraska or something?” Culpepper isn’t, but Connor is. For the Omaha native and Husker fan, that moment on ESPN illuminates why he has enjoyed playing Culpepper so much. “There are scripts, but there’s also all kinds of room for improvisation,” Connor says during a call from his home in Los Angeles. “It’s improv. You get into character and run with it. It’s a great time.”
Improvised by Jim Connor JANUARY
// FEBRUARY • 2017 / 31 / BESTOFOMAHA.COM
Connor, the youngest of seven children (“which explains my personality right there,” he says), attended Creighton Prep, where, along with classmate Alexander Payne, he performed with the school’s improv acting troupe. He remembers one gig in particular that fueled his passion for the rush and satisfaction of successfully winging it for a crowd. “It was for a local service group,” he says. “We did some silly birthing scene, and the women in the group—you know, who had some experience with such a thing—really had a good time with it. It’s so cool when you connect with an audience.”
Connor was a gifted ham and public speaker. He served as vice president of the student council at Prep, wrote and acted in pep rally skits, and even placed first place for Humorous Interpretation at the National Forensic League’s National Speech Tournament in Minnesota.
“
After what he described as a “difficult” freshman year at the University of NebraskaLincoln (“it just wasn’t for me”), he transferred to Saint John’s University in Minnesota. After college, he moved to Boston and worked as a carpenter while performing in theater and short films, then moved to Denver to pursue his MFA in acting at the famed National Theatre Conservatory. The goal, “was never to get famous,” he says. “I just wanted to make a living being an actor. I wanted acting to be my full-time job.” A dream of tens of thousands who have moved to Los Angeles. And while at 54, Connor is no household name, he has succeeded at stringing together enough commercials and small parts to make acting his career. Besides nearly 150 commercials, his film credits include Watchmen, Meet Dave, Blades of Glory, The Onion Movie, Home Invasion, and Horrible Bosses 2. Alexander Payne asked his old friend to give the drunken wedding-reception toast in About Schmidt. He also had numerous recurring roles in television comedies such as Parks and Recreation, Brooklyn Nine-Nine, Scrubs, and The King of Queens. In 2014, Connor and about 500 other actors auditioned for the role of the Dr. Pepper concessionaire in a national ad campaign targeting college football fans. Actors were given latitude to define the character and riff. Connor created an amalgam of “a lot of people I’ve known” to create Culpepper, a loud, proud, gregarious huckster who seems to actually believe—in the face of constantly presented information to the contrary—that he created the four-team college football playoff system.
For all of Culpepper’s failings, he’s also affable, wide-eyed, and childlike in his zeal for the job and the game, appealingly un-selfaware, and extremely clever. “Larry is a real guy, he’s a smart guy,” Connor says. “He’s just got some unusual ideas sometimes.” Among myriad other reasons why he claimed the Cornhuskers would make the playoffs: “Nebraska runs that classic passive-aggressive offense,” he told the ESPN crew. “They’re playin’ real nice, and then you’re like a puddle on the 50-yard line.” It was inspired nonsense, which is the foundation to good improv, which is what Connor would love to spend the rest of his career getting paid a living wage to do.
”
He is hoping to land more significant movie and television roles, especially in one of the increasing number of loosely scripted, improv-heavy comedies. “I’m not going to get cast for scripted stuff in front of a studio audience,” he says. “That’s not what I’m built for. Shows like Parks and Recreation—where you have space to work more freely with a talented group—that’s where I belong. That’s where I love to be.” Visit larryculpepper.com for more information.
Indeed, as Culpepper increasingly becomes a star beyond the confines of college-game broadcasts, as Dr. Pepper continues to expand the ad campaign (Connor’s character is now essentially the spokesman in football matters for the company, which AdWeek magazine estimated paid at least $35 million to be a “championship partner” in the College Football Playoff ).
JANUARY
There are scripts, but there’s also all kinds of room for improvisation. It’s improv. You get into character and run with it.
// FEBRUARY • 2017 / 32 / OMAHAMAGAZINE.COM
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T
OMAHA MAGAZINE
HANK GARY DEAN Davis for creating a genre of music original to Nebraska: tractor punk.
The progenitor of tractor punk has been performing and recording music for 20 years on the independent label—SPEED! Nebraska Records—that he established and jointly operates with fellow Omaha punk rocker Mike Tulis. Although they have released music in various formats (and in various genres of punk rock), SPEED! Nebraska specializes in 7-inch, 45 rpm vinyl records. “The first record I ever listened to was a 45, and it’ll be the last record I ever listen to,” Davis says of his favored medium. Davis and Tulis are no strangers to the local indie-punk scene. Davis, who grew up in Bennington, was in (what he refers to as) the tractor punk band Frontier Trust in the early-1990s. Davis says when he was writing his punk rock songs, he tried to write about what he knew growing up in rural Nebraska. He followed the examples of then-elder statesmen of punk: “The Replacements are singing about Minneapolis, Television is singing about living in New York.” Tulis grew up in a military family and moved around a lot. When Davis was touring with Frontier Trust, he was often surprised to find Tulis living in a different city.
A+C // MUSIC
"In Nebraska, as a musician, you had to leave town... We thought
'let's promote Nebraska!'" -Mike Tulis “Mike would come to all of our out-of-town shows, and I’d be like, ‘you live in Chicago now?’” Davis recalls. Thus began a friendship that would lead to their collaborative management of SPEED! Nebraska from the third record onward (after Tulis moved back to Omaha). In 1996, Davis had independently released the first SPEED! Nebraska recording. It was a 7-inch featuring two songs from the Omaha indie rock band Solid Jackson. Acclaimed
Omaha singer-songwriter Connor Oberst liked the band so much he wrote a song about them (the track, “Solid Jackson,” is featured on Bright Eyes’ A Collection of Songs Written and Recorded 1995-1997 from Saddle Creek Records). SPEED! Nebraska started with Solid Jackson because, as Davis says emphatically, “They had recorded this song called ‘Fell’ that was my favorite song, but they weren’t going to do anything with it.” The label’s first 7-inch from Solid Jackson, however, was more low-fi punk release than Davis’ personal brand of tractor punk. Likewise, Tulis does not classify his own music under the tractor punk genre, but he enjoys Davis’ regional stylings. “It’s a very good fit, because it’s a major industry at this point,” he says with a sarcastic grin, alluding to SPEED! Nebraska’s 20 years in business. As the Solid Jackson record sold, Davis was able to produce more music. SPEED! Nebraska’s second release came from Davis. His band at the time was called D is for Dragster, and it was true-to-form tractor punk. Tulis’ band at the time was named Fullblown. Fullblown was responsible for the label’s third 7-inch release. Once Tulis moved back to Omaha, he quickly became more involved in the record label. They recorded a variety of groups, including Davis and Tulis’ band The Monroes, the post-punk group Ideal Cleaners out of Lincoln, and Domestica (with former members of Lincoln’s Mercy Rule, who are longtime friends of Davis and Tulis). Along with desire to promote local punk music, Davis also wanted to work with his friends. “The unifying thing all the bands on SPEED! have is I like them and they’re nice people,” he says. Davis’ current band, the Wagon Blasters, released its most recent record in 2011. The Wagon Blasters often play shows with Tulis’ current band, the Lupines. On Oct. 22, they performed together at the label’s 20th anniversary show at Brother’s Lounge. “In Nebraska, as a musician, you had to leave town [to be considered successful],” says Tulis of the unfortunate perspective held by many local bands. “We thought, ‘Let’s promote Nebraska!’” When a new band joins the label, Davis says, “Now you’re on the team.”
Visit facebook.com/Speed-NebraskaRecords-215079805178952 for more information.
Gary Dean Davis at his favorite former restaurant—The Bohemian Cafe. JANUARY
// FAMILY • 2017 / 36 / OMAHAMAGAZINE.COM
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OMAHA MAGAZINE INTERN AND MMA FIGHTER LINDSAY WILSON EXPLAINS WHAT IT MEANS TO BE A "FIGHTER."
"
IGHTER" IS A very connota-
was dominant throughout. It felt like a victory for not only myself and my team, but for all the skinny little girls around the city who are constantly being told they are too small or cute to get into any sport rougher than tennis. Afterward, I felt a little better equipped to handle the frequent instances of random men deciding to follow me on a run or asking me to get into the car as they drove by. My only battle wounds were bruised knuckles and a small bump to the left of my eye that quickly faded into a minor, reddish bruise. I loved having the visible symbol of my victory on my face. In part, because combined with the right amount of “resting bitch face,” it seemed to deter creepy strangers from approaching me in coffee shops or while walking down OPPONENT VIA the street.
tive word. People hear it and think of large, brutish men knocking each other out for money. They think broken homes, difficult childhoods, and a last resort. Women are an afterthought, usually in the form of the devoted and completely dominated girlfriend or as the victims of domestic violence. The occasional person, when prompted, remembers Ronda Rousey’s infamous loss to Holly Holm—or how hot they both are. Typically, people respond so negatively to the idea of women in combat sports that I don't even bring up the topic. Upon mentioning an upcoming fight or my training for the first time, the initial quesI DEFEATED MY tion people usually ask is not where do UNANIMOUS DECISION, MEANING But I wasn’t quite I train, or what's my THE FIGHT WENT THE FULL able to wear even my record; they ask what injuries, symmy boyfriend thinks THREE ROUNDS BUT THE JUDGES minor bols of a well-earned of it. The readiness of AGREED THAT I WAS DOMINANT victory and a major this question, of the milestone in my life, mindset that priorTHROUGHOUT. with pride like the itizes the manner in male fighters can. I which I relate to men remember my boyfriend coming out of his as the most important part of my identity, is a first fight, his only loss to date, with a badly big part of the reason I fight. The implication broken nose and blood in his eye. Everyone’s of that question answers the usual follow-up first assumption was that he had been in a question of how I got into mixed martial arts. fight; I know because strangers approached him, excited to talk about how he had engaged I had my first cage fight in January of 2016, in the most masculine of sports and emerged at 110 pounds. I invited only four people in reasonably good shape. Where he was met outside of my team to watch, three of them with excitement, I was handed cards with women. I defeated my opponent via unanihotline phone numbers from sympathetic mous decision, meaning the fight went the gas station employees who didn’t believe my full three rounds but the judges agreed that I
JANUARY
story. For the week or so that my bruise was noticeable, any boy I happened to be walking around with that day was on the receiving end of accusatory glares, head-shaking, and lots of poorly muffled whispers. Outside of the martial arts community in the area, it was like my victory was something I should have hidden behind closed doors. Apparently, even after all those days of getting up at 5 a.m. to train and then spend hours at the gym, I still looked like an easy target. It wasn’t my first time being silenced about something I was proud of. Gradually, I realized that MMA will not change how most people see me, but it has changed how I see myself. During the month leading up to my second fight—this one at 115 pounds—I still encountered the stereotypical ways that women are perceived in relationship to the word “fighter.” But impositions of societal norms were not my concern during that time. Four weeks out, being a fighter means nothing about gender roles; it means constantly eating. Specifically, it signifies the consumption of a constant stream of protein shakes, eggs that I am beginning to accept will never taste good no matter how many different ways I cook them, supplements, vegetables, and what feels like gallons of water. I have put on close to 10 pounds of muscle since my first fight, in order to be able to cut a few pounds of water to make 115 pounds before weighing in, and then rehydrating back to a heavier weight the night before the fight. Beyond my diet, being a fighter means balancing the commitments of a full-time student working toward a double major, an internship, and a job while doing everything I can to win in the cage.
// FEBRUARY • 2017 / 40 / OMAHAMAGAZINE.COM
OMAHA MAGAZINE
As a junior in college, fighting means training at an offensively early hour so I can get all my studying done before morning classes, so I can get school and work knocked out before maybe having time to eat an actual dinner, all so I can focus on working out and night training. It means trying to get to bed around 10 p.m. so my body can recover and I can do it all again the next day with a little more weight added to every lift and a little more of a push to get my 3.57 GPA up to a 3.6. It means discipline, and making adjustments when I need to study. I love my routine right now. I love training and then letting whatever Jiu Jitsu or kickboxing techniques I learned simmer in the back of my mind while I study, then letting my brain process information about Renaissance Europe and sonnets while I lift. My interests in academia and in sports complement each other, and I have heard the same from other fighters—contrary to the myth that fighters tend to be uneducated.
With all of these things considered, people wonder why I would choose to be a fighter. I grew up playing softball and soccer, and have no formal background in combat sports. I am attending college on full academic scholarships and do not fit the stereotype of a cage fighter. So why would I, at 19 years old, decide to add cage fighting to my resume alongside mission trips and semesters on the dean's list? I guess I can see how on the surface the choice might seem a little incongruous, but to me mixed martial arts is the most natural thing in the world to pursue. The long answer as to why I fight is that I live in a world where I
PROFILES // SPORTS
once didn’t get hired because I wasn’t “willing to consider leaving my boyfriend” (according to the man who was interviewing me). With such experiences in mind, I don’t get how becoming a fighter could be anything but a logical course of action. In a world where women are still considered annoying if they speak, people listen to me when they see MMA on my resume. The short answer is that I like it, just as I like soccer and softball. The sport fits my personality.
Random men still follow me and yell rude comments if I’m downtown at night. Realistically, I don't think there's much I will ever be able to do about that. Even as I’m writing this, there’s a boy I’ve never met at the table behind me yelling “hey” every time I stop typing, but no matter if they’re a heavyweight (205 pounds and up) or a third-degree black belt in taekwondo, almost everyone I have encountered in the MMA community has shown me nothing but respect. Yes, I train ground game and standup with men, but I have never had another fighter follow me to my place of work, stand outside the door, and yell for the girl in the dress. Even if I do look like an easy target, instances of disrespect I have experienced in this most “masculine” of sports are nothing compared to the disrespect I get from men on the street on a daily basis. I think there’s a lesson there, with regard to our society’s skewed perception of what it means to be masculine. The guys I fight with are not the same guys who are treating women like inferior beings on the street or in their relationships.
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// FEBRUARY • 2017 / 41 / BESTOFOMAHA.COM
The fundamental message that fighters fight to convey is simple: “I will not be dominated.” To me “fighter” is not a word synonymous with troubled home life or hyper-masculinity or misogyny. To me it means being relentless, indomitable, dedicated, nurturing, receptive, empathetic, soft spoken, even-tempered—I think all of these words describe most fighters better than whatever people think of when trying to come up with reasons I shouldn’t be one. With all due respect to those trying to look out for me, I don’t see how it’s unsafe for me to be locked in a cage with another woman my size compared to how dangerous it is for me to walk down the street. Or to, in general, be a woman who physically exists and takes up space in the world. Silencing my interests won't fix the real problem.
TO ME, "FIGHTER" MEANS BEING RELENTLESS, INDOMITABLE, DEDICATED, NURTURING, RECEPTIVE, EMPATHETIC SOFT SPOKEN, AND EVEN-TEMPERED.
OMAHA MAGAZINE
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“Hey” boy just invited himself to have a seat at my table. He has started talking to me despite having been pointedly ignored for at least 10 minutes and the fact that I am obviously in the middle of something. I am not polite in response. I have no interest in being dominated by a culture that puts women in boxes and has taunts at the ready in case they try to fight back. I have no interest in being quiet about my sport in order to protect people from a discomfort that I’m guessing doesn’t compare to the discomfort of a 14 year old having her ass grabbed by a stranger. I don’t care if it’s “inappropriate” for me as a “young lady” to be excited to get into a cage and physically beat another girl. I'd rather autonomously lock myself in a cage than be folded neatly into a gender role. I don’t care what your perceptions are of what it means to be a fighter, or what you think it means to be a size 0 and 20 years old with blue eyes. As my coaches and training partners are constantly reminding me, I’m not here to apologize. I’m here to dominate. “Fighting Misogyny” was originally published Friday, Oct. 14 online at omahamagazine.com.
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Postscript At Ralston Arena (on Friday, Oct. 14), I lost my second career fight via TKO in the final 10 seconds of the final round. The following Saturday morning by 8:30 a.m., I was back in the gym and on my way to becoming a stronger fighter. I am not happy about losing, but I am also not devastated by getting punched in the face. I’m not fighting for perfection. I’m not perfect, and an imperfect record does not end my ambition in the cage. Rather, I’m fighting for all the girls who have contacted me to give support or share their story of fighting misogyny in their lives. I’m fighting for everyone who has told me it empowers them to see me get in the cage at all. I want to take this opportunity to thank my incredible coaches, Mauro Siso and Sergio Rangel, and everyone at Legacy Martial Arts for supporting me on this journey. With lessons learned from defeat, we are making changes in my training regimen for the next fight. Visit facebook.com/pg/lmaomaha for more information.
Always Local, Always Beautiful JANUARY
// FEBRUARY • 2017 / 42 / OMAHAMAGAZINE.COM
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The Other World-Renowned
KOBE
Creighton’s Coveted Basketball Recruit
BY SHANE MONAGHAN > PHOTOGRAPHY BY BILL SITZMANN > DESIGN BY MATT WIECZOREK
OMAHA MAGAZINE
PROFILES // GEN O
OMAHA MAGAZINE
K
OBE PARAS HAD never heard of
Omaha when Creighton called this past summer.
He spent the first 15 years of his life in the Philippines before moving to Los Angeles to chase a basketball scholarship. At the time, Creighton was just one of dozens of prominent basketball programs in pursuit of the high-flying 6-foot-5-inch tall guard. Creighton head coach Greg McDermott had coveted Paras since he first spotted the native Filipino while recruiting his high school teammate. Paras had committed to UCLA at the time, but he withdrew from the school in early June after failure to meet academic requirements. With Paras back on the open market, McDermott wanted to make him a Bluejay.
During his July visit to Creighton’s campus, Paras toured the $13 million Championship Center and posed for pictures with McDermott’s Naismith player of the year trophy, but it was the personal connections Paras made that led him to pick Creighton as his future home. “I got to bond with the coaches and my teammates, and it really felt right,” Paras says. He will need those bonds. Paras enjoys celebrity status in his home country, as the basketball-obsessed nation looks to him as a potential NBA player. The Pacific archipelago has never produced a professional player in the world’s most coveted league. “I am not a regular student-athlete,” he says. “I have a lot of people looking up to me.” Paras’ earliest memories are of hoards of fans stopping to ask his father, Benjie Paras, for autographs and pictures. Benjie was a twotime MVP in the Philippine Basketball Association, and has since become an actor. His father’s fame caused the younger Paras to grow up in the limelight, but Benjie tried to instill a sense of perspective in his son.
PROFILES // GEN O
“When he was my age, he had to do laundry for other people to have enough money,” says the younger Paras of his father. “He kept telling me how blessed I was.”
“I told him, now that you are here, your popularity can only grow,” says coach Middlebrooks. “Especially as people better understand Kobe Paras the person.”
Basketball was not something Paras picked up until the third grade. Before that time, he played badminton and table tennis. A growth spurt in seventh grade helped the now-taller young man to fall in love with basketball. Meanwhile, basketball continued to grow in popularity throughout the Philippines.
Paras also developed as a basketball player with more than just raw athleticism. He will bring those skills to a Creighton team poised to make a run at an NCAA tournament bid.
“Basketball in the Philippines is a religion,” Paras says. “Wherever you go, you see people playing basketball.” NBA games were constantly broadcast throughout the country, which helped Paras, whose first name pays homage to the recently retired Los Angeles Lakers star Kobe Bryant, become familiar with the sport’s biggest stars.
In 2013, an encounter with his favorite player, Lebron James, took Paras’ fame to a whole new level. During a trip to the Philippines, James took part in a camp for the country’s most promising young players. In a pre-game warm-up, Paras slammed home a one-handed dunk as James leapt to the side of him in a half-hearted effort to play defense. “I didn’t really plan it,” says Paras about the moment. “My friends were like, ‘do you realize who you just dunked on?’” The original video of the dunk received over 2.5 million views. That clip would bring about a whole new level of fame for the then-15 year old. Paras’ move stateside to aid his basketball skills would come just months after the dunk. It was at Cathedral High School, under the guidance of coach William Middlebrooks, that Paras, living away from his family, honed his leadership skills and focused on building his brand.
JANUARY
“He already has the body to play at this level,” says McDermott of Paras. “He also really knows how to put the ball in the basket.” And even thousands of miles from the Philippines, Paras’ enthusiastic fans have been able to follow his every move. “We found out pretty quick that the media in the Philippines was going to find him wherever he went,” says McDermott, who has spent many a Skype session this fall with the media outlets in Paras’ home country. Paras also keeps in touch with many back home via social media. On Twitter he has over 114,000 followers and on Instagram he has more than 454,000 followers. “On social media people always reach out to me,” Paras says. “Anywhere I am, I feel the support.”
Even though he knew almost nothing about Omaha before his visit in July, he has come to appreciate his new home. He says his favorite place is the gym, and he loves that there is less traffic here than in Los Angeles. He also knows that the start of basketball season means winter is coming. “He is getting ready for that snow,” Middlebrooks says. “He called me and said, ‘coach, I think I need boots.’” Visit gocreighton.com for more information.
// FEBRUARY • 2017 / 46 / OMAHAMAGAZINE.COM
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// FEBRUARY • 2017 / 48 / OMAHAMAGAZINE.COM
JEFF ZELENY
THANKFULLY, THE PRESIDENTIAL horse
race was over and the breathless autopsy of the results were ebbing by Thanksgiving. It gave CNN’s senior Washington correspondent, Jeff Zeleny, a chance for a break—a quick holiday retreat to see his mom on the farm where he grew up outside Exeter, Nebraska, a tiny town an hour southwest of Lincoln. “A little different pace,” he says wryly on the rainy Monday before Turkey Day. “I try to get back as much as possible. But I haven’t been back much this year. My mom has made me aware of that.”
While his CNN title suggests he is tethered inside the Beltway, Zeleny is, particularly during election season, more of a campaign-trail nomad. Thanks to his dogged work reporting on presidential campaigns for The Chicago Tribune, The New York Times, ABC, and CNN, he is one of the most respected political reporters and analysts in the business. One reason for his gift for in-depth, spot-on work, his colleagues deduce, is his life and career trajectory—from farm boy, to sports reporter, to Midwest journalist, to D.C. insider. That path has made him uniquely qualified to penetrate and make sense of a political landscape deeply divided along urban/rural and white-collar/blue-collar lines. “Jeff is a brilliant journalist,” says David Chalian, CNN’s political director and oftseen on-air analyst who hired Zeleny away from ABC. “He’s a reporter’s reporter. His work is so deeply sourced. He’s addicted to breaking news. He loves getting out on the road to talk to people. “With all that, he’s such a good guy—he’s never ‘gone Washington,’” Chalian says. “You can’t take the Nebraska out of him… I think that helps him connect to almost anyone he meets.”
“Jeff is a remarkably gifted journalist,” adds Jane Hirt, a fellow University of NebraskaLincoln alum of Zeleny’s who was managing editor of the Tribune during his stint in Chicago. “He was born to tell stories.”
Indeed, by the third grade, Zeleny says he was already glued to the television each night, watching Walter Cronkite on CBS nightly news. In high school, he began his journalism career by calling in high school football results to the local newspaper. By his senior year, he, one of 12 Exeter High School prospective graduates that year, was at the other end of the phone, fielding calls from sports correspondents for The York News-Times. “Sports coverage is the only thing that prepares you for election night,” he says.
Zeleny headed to UNL with dreams of being a broadcaster. Print journalism professors at UNL suggested he first pursue a print journalism path to build his reporting and writing chops. His sophomore year, he quit playing trumpet for the Husker marching band to join the staff of UNL’s college paper, the Daily Nebraskan, where he later became editor. In his summers, he landed prestigious internships, including one at The Wall Street Journal, where, in a crowd of Ivy Leaguers, Zeleny says the editors “really liked the idea that I was from Nebraska.” “Your Nebraska brand is a really good brand,” he says. “The Midwest mindset and work ethic is something people believe in and respect. It’s an advantage, not a drawback.” Zeleny’s biggest break, though, may have been back in Des Moines at his first job with the Register. For a young reporter, those bellwether Iowa caucuses, with its stampede of presidential hopefuls crisscrossing the state as the world watches, placed Zeleny’s detailed and astute reporting on the national stage. Then he was off to Chicago, where he covered the rise of a young U.S. senator to the presidency.
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After seven years with The New York Times, during which he increasingly made national television appearances as a guest political analyst, he took a position with ABC. As CNN began expanding its staff to cover the primaries and general election, Chalian went looking for “the top talent out there.” “Jeff and I had spent a lot of time together on the campaign trail as colleagues in the press corps,” Chalian says. “I knew what a great reporter and great guy he was and I knew he was one of the most respected political reporters there is. I’m thrilled to have him here.”
The trick for Zeleny has been making the jump from being a newspaper reporter to a broadcast journalist—his dream job since his formative years watching Cronkite. A mere three years into diving into broadcast journalism, a time during which he says he’s received “a lot of behind-the-scenes training,” you could argue he still seems a shade stiffer than your typical broadcast journalist. While his reporting and writing is incisive and often witty, he’s still a little off with those affected vocal tone, pitch, and timing mechanics standard in the broadcast business. He doesn’t have the cheekbones of most of the guys in broadcasting. He’s more subdued than many. Basically, you can still kinda see that Zeleny is a newspaper guy doing television.
“JEFF IS A BRILLIANT JOURNALIST,” SAYS DAVID CHALIAN, CNN’S POLITICAL DIRECTOR AND OFT-SEEN ON-AIR ANALYST WHO HIRED ZELENY AWAY FROM ABC. “HE’S A REPORTER’S REPORTER. HIS WORK IS SO DEEPLY SOURCED. HE’S ADDICTED TO BREAKING NEWS. HE LOVES GETTING OUT ON THE ROAD TO TALK TO PEOPLE."
OMAHA MAGAZINE
PROFILES // PEOPLE
Good, Chalian says. Times have changed. “Many of the old-school broadcasting rules are less important now,” he says. “The key is great, robust, well-sourced storytelling whether it’s print or television or a podcast.” Zeleny, good natured through a bit of ribbing from an old print reporter, seconds Chalian’s critique of the evolution of broadcast news. Viewers, he says, increasingly have made it clear that, “the blow-dried look,” as he put it, “isn’t important any more. We like real things.”
For all of Zeleny’s immersion in both rural and urban political landscapes during the last election cycle, he still didn’t predict a Trump victory. But news junkies and CNN fans know he was arguably the most prescient regarding the depth of frustration throughout the rust belt and other parts of the country with the perceived impact of trade deals and environmental regulations on the economy, and the idea of maintaining business-as-usual in D.C. “Trump was seen as the exterminator,” he says. “It was a change election. Then Republicans came home to him. A lot of things came together.”
N TRAIL NOM G I A A P M
D
AC A
Now, Zeleny says, as interesting as this election season was, things may get even more interesting in the coming years.
Jeff Zeleny and Anderson Cooper talk politics on CNN.
“It’s going to be fascinating,” he says. And rough, and weird. In late November, Zeleny reported there was no evidence to back Trump’s claim that millions of people had voted illegally in the 2016 election. Trump himself then targeted Zeleny, retweeting a rant from a 16-year-old: “@ Filibuster: @jeffzeleny. Pathetic—you have no sufficient evidence that Donald Trump did not suffer from voter fraud, shame! Bad reporter.”
A
RO
OTE
SK
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Y N E L E Z F F
A lso, this ret weet: “Just another generic CN N pa rt-time wa nnabe journa list!”
D IN N
Much of the battle now, Zeleny and Chalian say, is providing people with real news amid an onslaught of fake news, fake news that even the President of the United States seems uninterested in fact-checking. “Our job now is to make sure we’re doing the best job possible and holding people accountable,” Zeleny says. “You need people to be there to call a ball a ball, and a strike and strike, and just keep going and going to get it right. It’s a very important time in the country. My job is to keep pushing and keep asking the tough questions.” Visit cnn.com/profiles/jeff-zeleny-profile for more information.
Zelleny, professional and measured as ever, responded: “Good evening! Have been looking for examples of voter fraud. Please send our way. Full-time journalist here still working.”
A R EB
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Brew
Almighty
BY SARAH WENGERT
PHOTOGRAPHY BY BILL SITZMANN
DESIGN BY MATT WIECZOREK
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OMAHA MAGAZINE
PROFILES // PEOPLE
Vis Major Brewery Offers Artful Craft Beer THE TERM “ACT of God” can conjure
images of broken levees, tree trunks on car roofs, or even incredibly bad hair days. But for Belgian farmers, it once signified pints of seemingly heaven-sent brewskis. After harvest, the farmers crushed and boiled leftover grains, leaving them in open casks. Fast forward a couple of months, and the farmers returned to their casks to find them miraculously filled with beer. We now know it was less miracle and more wild yeast blowing in to ferment the wort that created the beer, but the farmers considered it a brilliant “act of God”—or, in Latin, “vis major.” This history inspired the name of Lindsey and Tom Clements’ Vis Major Brewery, which has been a passion project since its genesis.
The couple met in Omaha in 2008, before relocating to Chicago, where they developed a love of craft beer. “It quickly grew into a passion,” Lindsey says. “Before long, our interest [in] and love for craft beer evolved into homebrewing for fun.” The couple married in 2011 and returned to Omaha in 2012. That is when they got serious about homebrewing—getting new equipment and graduating from the typical novice extraction process to mashing their own grain. Within a couple years, Vis Major was serving suds at beer fests and other local events. Now, the Clements are polishing off the plans for their brick and mortar Vis Major Brewery, located at 3501 Center Street and slated to open in spring 2017. The three-story building on the cusp of the Field Club and Hanscom Park neighborhoods was once Clanton’s Grocery. Tom will make beer in the walkout basement. The main f loor taproom will seat about 40 people, with an additional private party space. “We were attracted to the neighborhood because it’s so community-centric,” Lindsey says. “Families there aren’t just neighbors, they’re friends, and they’re really engaged with each other.”
Tom, a former Marine who works as an aircraft mechanic, is the head brewer, pinning down the technical side of the couple’s craft beer vision and ultimately bringing it to life in the clinking glasses of happy Vis Major drinkers. Lindsey handles marketing for Vis Major and works for a local craft beer distributor, which has provided invaluable experience and knowledge of the industry.
“WE HOPE TO BRING PEOPLE INTO THE FOLD OF CRAFT BREWERIES. WITH OUR LOCATION, WE SEE THE OPPORTUNITY TO BE THE NEIGHBORHOOD BREWERY. RATHER THAN FOCUSING ON MASS PRODUCTION, WE WANT TO CREATE A FRIENDLY NEIGHBORHOOD ENVIRONMENT THAT’S WELCOMING TO EVERYONE.” -Lindsey Clements
With Vis Major, the Clements aim to “push the palate of the true craft beer drinker” while also offering styles appealing to entrylevel drinkers. “We want to make beer for people who, like us, are passionate about craft beer,” Lindsey says. “We love exploring craft beer, and I think that’s partially why we had such a great response at tastings.” The five flagship Vis Major beers are Amen American Wheat, Psalm Saison, Convert Citra IPA, 9th Plague Black IPA, and Almighty Stout. Seasonal brews like summer refresher Eden’s Apricot and autumn ace Proverbial Pumpkin, a Let There Be Hops SMASH Series, and several creative limited release beers round out the existing lineup. In bringing their dream to life as 100 percent owners of Vis Major Brewing, the Clements have faced their share of financial and other hurdles that might have tried even the patience of Job. But if timing is everything, then Vis Major may be right on time in terms of consumer interest. According the Nebraska Craft Brewers Guild, in-state sales of Nebraska-brewed beer have grown steadily for years, with nearly a 23 percent increase in 2015 alone. “There isn’t a brewer out there that didn’t start as a homebrewer,” Lindsey says. “We hope to bring people into the fold of craft breweries. With our location, we see the opportunity to be the neighborhood brewery. Rather than focusing on mass production, we want to create a friendly neighborhood environment that’s welcoming to everyone.” Visit vismajorbrewing.com for more information.
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OMAHA MAGAZINE
PROFILES // PEOPLE
BY JUDY HORAN // PHOTOGRAPHY BY BILL SITZMANN // DESIGN BY MATT WIECZOREK
Nick Manhart THE SIGN ON the pedestrian bridge that spans Dodge Street connecting Memorial and Elmwood parks is somewhat out of date, says Nick Manhart.
“It says ‘Most beautiful bridge.’ But the sign is completely rusted, which is ironic,” says the longtime Dundee resident. The sign once had truth to it. The pedestrian bridge was built in 1968. In 1969, the American Institute of Steel Construction named the bridge “The Most Beautiful Bridge in the U.S.” That was almost 50 years ago. The bridge is now structurally sound, but rusted. Something needed to be done to bring the iconic treasure back to its previous beauty. And Manhart is determined to do it. The stay-at-home father has lived in the area most of his life. As a child, he walked the bridge for eight years to and from St. Margaret Mary School.
“I AM CONFIDENT IT WILL OUTLIVE ME AND GENERATIONS OF OTHER PEOPLE WILL BENEFIT BY IT.”
Today, the five children of Manhart and his wife, Dr. Carolyn Manhart, walk over the bridge to St. Margaret Mary School just as their father did. He has a strong interest in rehabilitating the Dodge Street pedestrian overpass in time for its 50th birthday in 2018. He found it difficult to get others to feel the same passion. He contacted the City of Omaha and received no response. But the story interested World-Herald columnist Erin Grace, who wrote about his campaign. Grace’s article caught the attention of Pete Festersen, the city council member who represents the area. In March, the group Friends of the Bridge was organized. “Without Pete’s leadership and advocacy, we would not have had the success,” says Manhart. “We were able to ultimately raise $300,000.” The donations were collected through a form on the Dundee Memorial Park Association. DMPA then distributed the funds to Friends of the Bridge. Friends of the Bridge also raised money through a series of neighborhood activities, such as parties prior to the annual Memorial Park concert. Money poured in from 24 different zip codes, spanning the country from Portland, Oregon, to Washington, D.C.
The Memorial Park bridge was the only pedestrian bridge in Omaha’s network of 19 where aesthetics were taken into consideration, says Manhart. “We are planning an event for next fall when the work is done,” he says. “We would like to recreate the event.” The event Manhart wants to recreate is the ribbon-cutting ceremony from April 1968, when city dignitaries, school children, and volunteers came to help inaugurate the new bridge. The plan is to start work on the bridge after the Memorial Park Bank of the West "Celebrates America" concert in July 2017. The hope is for the bridge to be open again before school starts. Renovations to the bridge—also known as the Dodge Street Overpass—will include lead paint remediation, rust removal, repainting, and the repair of decking. Manhart’s passion for the bridge has not abated. Born in 1969, he says, “I am confident it will outlive me and generations of other people will benefit by it.” Visit dodgestreetoverpass.org for more information.
Out of total restoration costs, $150,000 will come from the City’s bridge maintenance fund. The bridge brings back fond memories for many ex-Omahans. Its rich history started with a program in the early 1960s, launched to construct pedestrian bridges around the city. Between the 1960s and 1980, 19 bridges were built.
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the savior of memorial park bridge
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OMAHA MAGAZINE
HISTORY
BY ANNE WALSH // PHOTOGRAPHY PROVIDED BY DOUGLAS COUNTY HISTORICAL SOCIETY // DESIGN BY MATT WIECZOREK
NEBRASKA’S CAPITAL FROM OMAHA TO LINCOLN
WHEN NEBRASKA ACHIEVED statehood on
March 1, 1867, it was the turning point in a 12-year-long, bitter, and sometimes violent struggle to move the capital from Omaha to...well, anywhere except Omaha. “Divisiveness festered the moment Congress organized the Nebraska Territory on May 30, 1854. The first territorial governor, Francis Burt, arrived in October to determine the capital’s location. In ill health, Burt was besieged by “every influential man in the territory”—especially those with large landholdings in fledgling towns near the Missouri River. Though Burt appeared to favor Bellevue, a more established settlement predating Omaha, he died just 10 days later and “sought in the grave that repose which it was evident he could never find in Nebraska,” according to James Savage and John Bell in their 1894 book, History of Omaha. “Our pioneer urban developers knew getting the seat of government would help drive their community’s economy. There was no tax base, and they needed all the federal money they could get,” says Harl Dalstrom, retired history professor, University of Nebraska at Omaha. “Even today we may complain about federal spending, but it becomes legitimate and welcome when the dollars come our way.”
The battle for the capital took shape on both sides of the Platte River, a geographical barrier for people north and south of it, and a political dividing line. The Kansas-Nebraska Act that created the Nebraska Territory also focused on slavery’s expansion. The act would destroy Democratic unity in 1860; it split the U.S. into two political parties, with Republicans primarily in the north and Democrats in the south.
as the West expanded. It’s unlikely Omaha would have existed without its ties to Council Bluffs,” says Dalstrom. The Council Bluffs and Nebraska Ferry Co. supported Cuming’s decision, offering its meeting house on Ninth Street between Farnam and Douglas streets for the session beginning Jan. 16, 1855.
Rancor soon was apparent, with delegates from Bellevue and south of the Platte arriving dressed as Indians, wearing red blankets “to indicate their ‘savage’ intentions toward Cuming,” according to Upstream: An Urban Biography of Metropolis Omaha & Council Bluffs, co-authored by Lawrence Larsen, Barbara Cottrell, and Harl and Kay Calame Dalstrom. Cuming ignored the blanketed delegates. A.J. Hanscom, unofficial leader of the Omaha delegation, was elected Speaker of the House, supported by his friend, Andrew Jackson Poppleton, a master of debate and parliamentary skill. Buoyed by rich Omahans who bribed delegates with money, land, and promises, the two led a joint resolution on Feb. 22, 1855, naming Omaha the capital, with the ferry company’s meeting house becoming the first capitol building. The second territorial capitol was built in 1857 on the site of today’s Central High School at 20th and Dodge streets. Scarcely had the mortar set when Omaha’s adversaries introduced a bill in January 1858 that would move the capital to a new, non-existent town. Omaha did not have enough votes to stop it, so Hanscom and Poppleton began a carefully orchestrated showdown using parliamentary procedure, writes David Bristow in A Dirty, Wicked Town: Tales of 19th Century Omaha.
Using the Platte as a line of demarcation, Thomas Cuming, territorial secretary and acting governor, divided the Nebraska Territory into eight counties: four north and four south of the river. Although a census showed more people lived south of the Platte, Cuming announced the first legislative session would convene in Omaha.
Through a technicality, Poppleton succeeded in getting Nebraska City’s James Decker, the new House Speaker and an Omaha foe, out of the speaker’s chair, and temporarily replaced him with J. Sterling Morton, an Omaha ally. Intending to filibuster until time ran out on the session’s remaining eight days, the Omaha contingent drew the wrath of Decker, who vowed to regain the chair “or die trying.”
A rising young Iowa Democrat, Cuming undoubtedly was influenced by his ties to Council Bluffs and his landholdings in Omaha. “Both cities were interdependent
Decker attempted to pry the gavel from the chair’s occupant, then tried to tip him out. Hanscom engaged Decker in a tug-of-war, igniting a brawl with bloody noses and black
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eyes too numerous to mention, writes Bristow. On the following morning, the anti-Omaha crowd adjourned to Florence (then its own city) and carried a motion to move the legislature there. However, Acting Governor Cuming refused to recognize the Florence legislature, supported by incoming Gov. William Richardson.
The struggle to relocate the capital continued year after year until December 1866, when the U.S. Congress passed a resolution naming Nebraska as the country’s 37th state, effective March 1, 1867. President Andrew Johnson opposed the statehood and vetoed the bill. But Congress overrode it, the only time in U.S. history that a statehood bill became law over a presidential veto, writes Tammy Partsch in It Happened in Nebraska: Remarkable Events that Shaped History. To placate those south of the Platte River who were considering annexation to Kansas, the legislature voted to place the capital city in Lancaster County. Prior to the vote, Omaha Sen. J.N.H. Patrick attempted to thwart the move by naming the future capital city after recently assassinated President Abraham Lincoln. It was assumed Democrats would not support a capital named after the Republican president, but the Removal Act successfully passed in May 1867. Gov. David Butler and others toured sites and, by September, had zeroed in on the village of Lancaster, renaming it Lincoln. The state capitol building was completed Dec. 1, 1868, but despite the intervening months, nothing had been done in Omaha to prepare for the move. Many officials, including Butler, didn’t believe Omaha’s citizens would let the capital go. So, during an evening snowstorm in late December 1868, men surreptitiously entered the Omaha capitol and cleared it of all documents, deeds, and certificates related to the governance of Nebraska, writes Partsch. By midnight the men and pack horses departed, spiriting the documents to Lincoln’s new capitol building, where the Nebraska Legislature would meet within a month. Like the history preceding it, the change was made under a cloud of politics and controversy. Visit nebraskahistory.org for more information.
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The territorial capitol building at 20th and Dodge streets is now the site of Central High School.
HANSCOM ENGAGED DECKER IN A TUG-OF-WAR, IGNITING A BRAWL WITH BLOODY NOSES AND BLACK EYES TOO NUMEROUS TO MENTION.
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OMAHA MAGAZINE
ADVENTURE
Paradise for Bird Dogs and Dock Divers By Jared Kennedy Photography by Bill Sitzmann Design by Matt Wieczorek
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A
S URBAN SPRAWL takes over rural America,
yesterday’s pasture transforms into tomorrow’s super store. Earl Henry Bruhn Jr. foresaw this trend long ago. He knew hunters would need a place to go where they could get inspired, stay in touch, and most importantly—hunt some birds. Scott Bruhn is the son of Earl Henry Bruhn Jr. His family’s farm along the Elkhorn River Valley underwent decades of preparation before opening for commercial hunting. “My dad bought the property in 1962,” Bruhn says. “He was a big hunter. He said, ‘We’ll buy our own property; we’ll have our own private hunting preserve and get a head start.’”
“WE WENT THROUGH 250,000 BIRDS AND 30,000 HUNTERS IN THE LAST 30 YEARS,” BRUHN SAYS. “WE HAD EVERY CELEBRITY YOU COULD THINK OF OUT HERE.”
Pheasant Haven officially opened as a hunting preserve in 1987 after Scott and his brother, Earl Bruhn III, graduated from the University of Nebraska at Omaha. The two wanted to realize their father’s vision for Pheasant Haven—opening hundreds of acres to hunters from all over the nation. “We went through 250,000 birds and 30,000 hunters in the last 30 years,” Bruhn says. “We had every celebrity you could think of out here.” Unfortunately, his brother Earl did not live to see the full realization of their Pheasant Haven dream. After his untimely death in 1991, just four years after opening, Bruhn was left to carry on the dream—alone. In recent years, urban development has finally reached the gates of Pheasant Haven. Trophy homes now dot the beautiful Elkhorn River Valley. At this point in time, Bruhn says the preserve is no longer viable as a hunting retreat. The property shrank from a vast acreage to a mere 75 acres, and Bruhn has come up with a new focus for the business. “Now I have a staff created, and all the buildings, and everything I need to do dog boarding and training,” Bruhn says. “I love dogs.” According to Bruhn, there is a large and underserved community of hunters in Omaha who want to have their dog trained for hunting. He says a lot of people want their dog to be ready for sporting, but simply don’t have the space to do it. “They can drop their dog off, and we can exercise the dog and keep it in good condition,” Bruhn says. “When they go up to South Dakota, or wherever they go, they will already have their dog trained, ready to roll, and in great shape.” Tom Kazmierczak of Cedar Rapids, Iowa, says he would pay the more than $1,000 it costs to train a dog at Pheasant Haven. Kazmierczak himself trained his dog, Sam, with mixed results. In his opinion, having a well-trained dog is very impressive and makes the hunt go more smoothly. “I have also hunted with old-school guys who got mad at me when Sam took off running and I couldn't stop her,” Kazmierczak says. But he acknowledges that having a perfectly trained dog that can hunt is not what it’s all about. He finds joy in the quality time spent with Sam. “I read a book called Travels with Charlie by Steinbeck when I was in about eighth grade, which is all about a guy and his dog discovering America—that’s Sam and I,” Kazmierczak says. “I take her anywhere they allow, and I start every morning in the backyard with Sam and a cup of coffee.” JANUARY
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OMAHA MAGAZINE
JANUARY
ADVENTURE
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OMAHA MAGAZINE
ADVENTURE
Siou Siou
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“THOSE POOR DOGS THAT AREN’T L a b GOING TO GET A HOME—WE ARE L a b GOING TO TURN SOME OF THEM INTO CHAMPIONS, SELL THEM AT THE VENUES, AND THEN GIVE THE MONEY BACK TO THE SHELTERS TO FEED MORE DOGS.”
Siou Siou L aa b L b Talking to someone like Kazmierczak, it is
-Scott Bruhn
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There is another sporting aspect of Pheasant Haven’s new business model that plays into the light-hearted side of dog ownership. Bruhn calls it dock jumping, but it is known nationally as “dock diving.” The premise of the sport is simple: dogs are trained to jump as far as they can off a dock over water. Training dogs to dock dive goes beyond the fences of Pheasant Haven. Bruhn plans to partner with local animal shelters to give adoptee animals a second chance. He calls it “Wet Dog Jumps.” Pheasant Haven has already done fundraising dock jump events to benefit the Nebraska Humane Society, and this is another layer to that on-going effort.
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“Those poor dogs that aren’t going to get a home—we are going to turn some of them into champions, sell them at the venues, and then give the money back to the shelters to feed more dogs,” Bruhn says. Margaret Allen is Bruhn’s fiancée. When Bruhn retires, she says that will likely be the end of Pheasant Haven. It is a little gloomy, seeing the beginning, middle, and end of a family business. But, as a game reserve, the destination was transient anyway. Encroaching urban sprawl has been a known threat for decades. Taking in dogs without a home, however, and giving them a new life—that creates a timeless legacy. Visit pheasanthaven.org for more information.
11420 Blondo St, Ste. 102 402.496.4570 www.YourFamilysChiropractor.com JANUARY
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ICE AGE TUSKS VS. BLOOD IVORY
How Nebraska’s State Fossil (the Mammoth) Feeds Global Demand for Ivory
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OMAHA MAGAZINE
COVER
Scan this page with the LayAR app to view an exhibition of Chinese mammoth ivory carvings. BY DOUG MEIGS PHOTOGRAPHY BY BILL SITZMANN & DOUG MEIGS DESIGN BY MATT WIECZOREK
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George Corner looks up at Archie at UNL’s Morrill Hall.
T
HE BURIED REMAINS of Ice Age mammoths hold secrets to the story of climate change and the rise of mankind.
Mammoths vanished from Earth some 11,000 years ago at the end of the geological epoch known as the Pleistocene, but their story grows increasingly significant today with contemporary discussions of global warming and the alarming rate of wildlife species extinctions worldwide. As the United States and China crack down on legal channels for buying and selling African elephant ivory— due to a quirk of international treaty regulations—Chinese ivory traders have begun turning to tusks from prehistoric woolly mammoths. Traditional Chinese ivory craftsmanship has a history dating back thousands of years. Ironically, the continuation of the ancient Chinese art form could become dependent on supplies of ivory from extinct woolly mammoths. Mammoths are the ancient relatives of modern elephants. Although their closest living relative is the Asian elephant, they also share the biological family “Elephantidae” with African elephants. Paleontologists have excavated their long-nosed (i.e., proboscidean) kin on nearly every continent, except for Antarctica and Australia.
Nebraska has an especially rich history of elephants. In fact, the mammoth is Nebraska’s official state fossil. Mammoths or mastodons have been uncovered in all but three of Nebraska’s 93 counties (every one except Grant, Arthur, and Wayne counties).
“NEBRASKA IS PROBABLY THE ONLY PLACE IN THE COUNTRY WHERE YOU CAN FIND A COMPLETE SEQUENCE UNTIL THEIR DEMISE IN THE LATE ICE AGE, 10-12,000 YEARS AGO” -George Corner “Our elephants first come over about 14 million years ago into North America, and Nebraska is probably the only place in the country where you can find a complete sequence until their demise in the late Ice Age, 10-12,000 years ago. Nebraska is probably one of the few places where you can document the entire history of the Proboscidea in North America,” says George Corner, collection manager at Morrill Hall, the University of Nebraska State Museum in Lincoln.
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NEBRASKA’S STATE FOSSIL Mammoths were mythical creatures to the young Corner. As a kid growing up in rural Blue Hill, his family would travel to the capital every year for the state basketball tournament. Across from the Nebraska Coliseum (the tournament’s home prior to the Devaney Center’s construction) was Morrill Hall. He would resort to temper tantrums if his father wouldn’t let him “go look at the elephants” during their Lincoln visits, Corner says with a laugh.
The paleontologist (who turned 69 in January) stands in the middle of “Elephant Hall,” where gigantic specimens of the state’s rich proboscidean history loom overhead. He has spent 47 years working for the museum—starting with field studies as an undergraduate student of geology, and with the museum’s highway salvage project during and after his master’s in geology. Corner, who jokes about being as old as the creatures on display, credits the bulk of the collection to Erwin H. Barbour. In 1891, the Ohio-raised Barbour came to the University of Nebraska to head its geology department. Within a year of landing in Lincoln, Barbour had taken charge of curating the museum; he served as its director for roughly 50 years.
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OMAHA MAGAZINE
COVER
The crown jewel of the museum’s Elephant Hall goes by the nickname Archie. That’s short for Archidiskodon imperator maibeni. Archie is a Columbian mammoth (a southern branch of the mammoth genus, which may have lacked the shaggy-coat of its northern woolly mammoth relatives). Both Columbian and woolly mammoths once roamed the grasslands of Nebraska.
Early humans lived alongside mammoths in the landscape that would eventually become the state of Nebraska. But Corner doubts that mankind could have been entirely responsible for the demise of mammoths: “Early Nebraskans witnessed the extinction of these animals, and they were opportunists; they hunted them—but I do not think they were the final cause.”
“We like to claim that Archie is the largest mounted mammoth in the world, but I’ll show you one thing that Barbour did,” Corner says. “Look at his toes. He’s mounted on his tippy-toes. Now, you can’t tell me that an elephant of that size could stand on his tippy-toes.” (Archie would have likely weighed in the realm of 8,400 kilograms, the size of a large bull African elephant plus 20 percent.) “But Barbour wanted as much height as possible.”
On remote islands, isolated pockets of woolly mammoths lingered past the species’ mass dieoff. The last known living woolly mammoths went extinct on Wrangel Island (a secluded Russian territory in the Arctic Ocean) as recently as 3,700 years ago.
Archie stands in a semi-circle of proboscidean specimens that stretch from prehistoric non-elephants into modern-day varieties—from long-jawed mastodons, to stegomastodons, to mastodons, to the elephant family: mammoths (though a woolly mammoth is not on display at the museum) and culminating in modern Asian and African elephants.
Why did mammoths go extinct? “That’s the big question in paleontology,” Corner says. “Go to the African savannah—we had analogs in the New World to all these animals. In Nebraska, we had elephants, rhinoceros, and camels. Why did all those big game animals become extinct here when they managed to survive in Africa— where there were more humans hunting them? Why? We don’t know.” ... NEBRASKA MAMMOTH TRIVIA Remains of more than 10,000 extinct elephants have been found in Nebraska, but far less than 1 percent of the state has been carefully explored for fossils.
“Some of these critters came over to North America as they were, so there wasn’t a lot of evolution in place. Most of the evolution probably took place in the Old World and then migrated over in the late Miocene,” Corner says, explaining how elephants traveled to Nebraska via the Bering land bridge that once linked northeastern Russia to Alaska.
...
Mammoth ivory is an entirely different beast. CITES does not regulate the trade in fossils or extinct animals. Prehistoric ivory is a way around the global regulation of elephant ivory. Most of the world’s untouched mammoth ivory remains locked in the frozen permafrost of Siberia. When snows melt during the brief Arctic summer (from mid-July to mid-September), riverbanks often reveal prehistoric remains. Warmer summers means the permafrost is thawed longer every year. That means more and more mammoth tusks are protruding from the ground every year. Indigenous locals, seasonal tusk hunters, and Russian gangs aggregate the raw tusks in Siberia. Officially, the tusks must be approved for export by the government authorities, but traders (and smugglers) are increasingly taking their purchases directly into mainland China over the land border with Russia, Mongolia, or neighboring countries.
ELEPHANT AND MAMMOTH IVORY
Asian and African elephants have only recently ventured into Nebraska with help from modern man.
Modern elephants in Africa face persistent pressure from poachers and conflict with human settlements that encroach on an evermore limited range of habitat.
The museum’s Asian elephant specimens came from two that died when a Campbell Brothers Circus train caught fire at Pawnee City in 1904 (only to be excavated by Barbour’s graduate student two years later). The museum’s African elephants on display include the skeleton of an African elephant that had died in a German zoo—acquired before the construction of Morrill Hall in 1927—and taxidermy mounts shot during a 1920s safari by Adam Breede, the publisher of the Hastings Tribune (who contributed most of the museum’s collection of African taxidermy).
To address the poaching crisis, the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (which went into effect in 1975) banned the ivory trade in 1989. But African elephant populations had already collapsed during the decade leading up to the ban, falling from roughly 1.3 million to 600,000 elephants.
“In Nebraska, mammoths became extinct along with 85 percent of all animals larger than the size of a jackrabbit 10-12,000 years ago. And I can’t tell you why,” Corner says, who speculates that climate change, disease, maybe an asteroid, or any combination of such factors, could have driven Nebraska’s mammoths to extinction at approximately the same time that mammoths went extinct worldwide.
After Beijing declared traditional Chinese ivory carving to be an “intangible cultural heritage” in 2006, China participated in a one-off purchase of 108 tons of ivory sourced from naturally deceased elephants in 2008. The sale raised $15 million for African conservation, and the Chinese government has been slowly allocating the stockpile to licensed factories for sale only in the domestic Chinese market. Many environmentalists view the sale as a failure for stimulating demand and providing a front for the laundering of “blood ivory.”
Despite decades of coordinated international efforts to protect African elephants, grim statistics remain a reality today: “An elephant is killed every 15 minutes,” according to The Ivory Game, Netflix’s original documentary released in November 2016. The vast majority of that blood ivory is destined for China.
The CITES ban has allowed several technical loopholes for African elephant ivory. For example: pre-Convention and pre-ban (antique) ivory could be bought or sold, as could ivory harvested from African safari hunts. JANUARY
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Chinese demand for mammoth ivory has pros and cons. The trade is potentially beneficial for identification of excavation sites—hunting of tusks is incentivized, so tusks are saved that would otherwise be destroyed from exposure to the elements after millennia underground; however, the trade destroys the integrity of excavation sites disrupted by tusk hunters. According to John E. Scanlon, the SecretaryGeneral of CITES, more than 90 percent of Russian mammoth ivory exports went to China (including Hong Kong) in the past 10 years, with total Chinese imports surpassing 80 tons annually from 2010 to 2015 according to the official trade database of the United Nations. ... NEBRASKA MAMMOTH TRIVIA Nebraska’s state fossil is not just ancient history. The mammoth is an important player in the global ivory trade today. ...
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CHANGING REGULATORY LANDSCAPES Today, on the crowded streets of Hong Kong’s tourist districts, there are roughly half a dozen storefronts that advertise mammoth ivory products for sale. Signs visible outside the mammoth shops promote the legality of prehistoric ivory—tusks of extinct woolly mammoths harvested from the frozen permafrost of Russian Siberia. Hong Kong played a crucial role in developing China’s niche mammoth ivory market. Before and after the CITES ban, the former-British colony (which became a special administrative region of China in 1997) also served as a key transit hub for elephant ivory—legal and illegal—entering the mainland Chinese market. Implementation of the 1989 elephant ivory ban brought about major declines in Hong Kong’s ivory carving industry. During the same time period, however, the mainland Chinese economy enjoyed rapid economic growth—boosting demand for luxurious ivory products among the nation’s nouveau riche.
As demand for ivory intensified in China, the government implemented an extensive licensing system, mandatory certification cards for legal elephant ivory products, stiff penalties, and a crackdown on smuggling. Despite the risks, black market ivory dealers continued to cash in on Chinese market conditions to maintain the country’s status as the world’s primary destination for black market elephant ivory (followed next by the United States). Destructions of seized ivory stockpiles followed. The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service crushed more than 6 tons of confiscated ivory in Denver, Colorado, in November 2013. Then, two months later, Chinese authorities crushed more than 6 tons of its own seized ivory in Guangzhou province. Over the course of 2014-2016, Hong Kong’s government followed suit with the incineration of 28.86 tons, nearly all of its seizure stockpile—the world’s largest ivory burn until Kenya torched 105 tons ($172 million worth) of ivory in 2016. During a September 2015 meeting in Washington, D.C., President Barack Obama and Chinese President Xi Jinping agreed to enact “nearly complete bans on ivory import and export, including significant and timely restrictions on the import of ivory as hunting trophies, and to take significant and timely steps to halt the domestic commercial trade of ivory.” In the U.S., tightened elephant ivory laws went into effect in July of 2016 to close loopholes for pre-ban ivory, antiques, and hunting trophies.
COVER
Cheryl Lo, a senior wildlife crime officer with the World Wildlife Fund in Hong Kong told Omaha Magazine in late November that she expected Beijing to reveal China’s implementation plan sometime in December. No status update had been released as of the magazine’s press deadline. Hong Kong officials had already announced the implementation plan for the territory’s more stringent ivory regulation in June 2016.
An example of Chu Chung-shing's mammoth ivory art
Lo says her research for the WWF found that Hong Kong’s registered elephant ivory stockpile has remained level for many years, indicating that traders were likely replenishing with black market stocks. She says more research on mammoth ivory in Hong Kong is needed. At this moment, she says there is no evidence to prove systematic laundering or smuggling of African elephant ivory into China under the guise of mammoth tusks. “The current concern is probably at the individual store level—shops that intentionally or accidentally misrepresent or mislabel to consumers that elephant ivory is mammoth,” Lo says, noting that the potential for wrongdoing should still be monitored. In the future, China’s implementation of stricter ivory regulations will likely increase market pressure on the prehistoric ivory stocks. Being able to tell the difference, then, becomes paramount. Sometimes the difference can be difficult to identify—especially in tusks that are heavily processed or scrimshawed with ink. Mammoth tusks sometimes exhibit a rocky/ mineralized exterior, discoloration from being underground, with denser consistency than elephant tusks. But this generalization does not always apply to high quality tusks gathered from the permafrost.
Likewise, tusks from adult male mammoths are generally larger with greater spiral curvature than African elephant tusks. “But this is not true of all mammoth tusks. Some very much resemble tusks of elephants,” says University of Michigan professor Daniel Fisher, one of the world’s foremost experts on mammoths and mammoth tusks. “There are, of course, juvenile mammoths whose tusks are not large at all, and female mammoths whose tusks do not show much spiral curvature.”
JANUARY
While forensic methods can certify a tusk as belonging to a mammoth, the procedures could damage the specimen or require specialized lab equipment. The most certain means of verification requires a polished cross-section of the tusk. Close inspection of such a surface reveals intersecting spiral curves called “Schreger lines.” Elephant tusks exhibit Schreger lines that intersect with an angle greater than 115 degrees, while mammoth tusks exhibit an angle of less than 90 degrees. ... NEBRASKA MAMMOTH TRIVIA Paleontologists estimate that at least 3,000 elephant fossils remain buried in the average square mile of Nebraska countryside. ...
THE WWF FOUND THAT HONG KONG'S REGISTERED ELEPHANT IVORY STOCKPILE HAS REMAINED LEVEL FOR MANY YEARS, INDICATING THAT TRADERS WERE LIKELY REPLENISHING WITH BLACK MARKET STOCKS.
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M orrill Hal L
CHINESE MAMMOTH IVORY DEALERS
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Daniel Chan—the owner of Lise Carving & Jewellery in Hong Kong—claims to have first introduced mammoth ivory to the market. “I began buying mammoth tusks from suppliers in Alaska and Canada in 1983. That was a very busy time for [elephant] ivory. In 1983, nobody wanted to use the prehistoric material, only me. I bought and kept it,” Chan says. “In the early ’90s, nobody was using this material. I was the first Hong Kong person to visit Moscow looking for mammoth tusks.” In his Hong Kong factory/warehouse, several craftsmen are working at a long carving table. Whirring electrical tools spit ivory dust in the air as they carve Buddhist figures and trinkets from ancient material. There is even a baby mammoth skeleton in the corner of the room. It faces a mountain of mammoth tusks stored in shelves and piled on the floor.
After the fall of the Soviet Union, Chan pioneered the supply chain from Siberia to Hong Kong via Moscow. Competition followed. Other ivory dealers moved into his market niche and demand for mammoth ivory steadily grew. Mainland Chinese smugglers buying direct from Siberia and transporting their stocks over the land border with Russia became a major annoyance, undercutting his business. One of Chan’s peers, carving master Chu Chung-shing says, “I can carve on any materials. I don’t need to break the law to make a living.” Chu owns two upscale shops that exclusively sell mammoth tusk artwork in Hong Kong’s most popular tourist districts. Chu’s Prestige Crafts storefronts glisten with ostentatious carvings, which stretch up and around gigantic, spiraling mammoth tusks. His work was exhibited at the 2010 Shanghai World Expo, and he has had large exhibitions promoted by committees of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference.
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Chan and Chu shared similar experiences in their search for elephant ivory alternatives. “The ban was a huge blow to me. I even carved out of ox bone, but only for a short time. Everybody was trying something new after the ban,” Chu says, who eventually found an ideal substitute in mammoth ivory, even though the prehistoric tusks are denser and more prone to cracking than contemporary elephant tusks. Both ivory insiders emphasize that any new ivory ban from the government should not impact the mammoth ivory trade because of the fundamental difference between the two products. JANUARY
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COVER
In Beijing, the China Association of Mammoth Ivory Art Research issues cards to authenticate mammoth ivory products, similar to the system mandated by the Chinese government for elephant ivory carvings. However, use of the mammoth registration cards is voluntary. Chen Shu, the president of the association, maintains an extensive showroom of mammoth carving arts at his home. Large polished mammoth tusks join examples of historic schools of traditional Chinese ivory carving— from Canton ivory balls carved with impossibly intricate concentric spheres, to Beijingstyle painted ivory carvings, and even delicate modern jewelry designs.
Many domestic buyers consider mammoth ivory to be a commodity investment, while others have used the expensive carvings to bribe or otherwise buy influence.
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Chen watched prices skyrocket for prehistoric ivory in the past decade. The growth far outpaced changes in elephant ivory prices. He says raw elephant ivory increased from roughly 1,000-2,000 yuan per kilogram in 2003 to 8,000-12,000 yuan per kilogram in 2013; over the same timespan, raw mammoth tusks that once sold for hundreds of yuan rose in price to 30,000-40,000 yuan per raw kilogram. In the summer of 2016, Chen says that the mammoth ivory market was experiencing a downturn following the central government’s anti-corruption campaign, a slowing Chinese economy, and the Sino-U.S. agreement to strengthen regulation of the world’s two largest markets for black market ivory. ... NEBRASKA MAMMOTH TRIVIA One mastodon is discovered for every 10 mammoths in the state.
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Mammoth tusks occupy an awkward place between opposing views on the global ivory trade. In the view of Chinese traders, mammoth ivory is an alternative to African elephant ivory that sustains their traditional craftsmanship.
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Many environmental activists, on the other hand, view the mammoth ivory trade as a means of sustaining a hated industry.
An ivory carver holds a mammoth tusk in Daniel Chan's Hong Kong warehouse.
Currently, India is the only country to have banned the sale of mammoth ivory. In the United States, four states have bans on the sale and purchase of mammoth ivory: New York, New Jersey, California, and Hawaii.
ESMOND MARTIN, ONE OF THE WORLD'S LEADING ELEPHANT CONSERVATIONISTS HAS CITED MAMMOTH IVORY AS A POSSIBLE BENEFICIAL ALTERNATIVE TO ELEPHANY IVORY Nevertheless, Esmond Martin, one of the world’s leading elephant conservationists has cited mammoth ivory as a possible beneficial alternative to elephant ivory (so long as mammoth carvings are produced on a large enough scale that they can be easily differentiated from elephant carvings). Unfortunately for mammoth traders who buy bulk quantities that often include fragments and lower-grade tusks, such scale is not always financially viable. Mammoth ivory was recently addressed at the 17th meeting of the Conference of the Parties in South Africa from Sept. 24 through Oct. 5, when national representatives gathered to discuss the state of global wildlife regulations. In response to the “indirect threat” to elephant populations through the potential for laundering, a draft resolution from Israel urged monitoring of specimens and new mammoth ivory regulations. But the CITES secretariat ruled against the resolution, in part, due to the anecdotal nature of evidence. Evidence published during the prior year included a 10-month undercover investigation by the Elephant Action League in Hong Kong and Beijing. The undercover report claimed that the Beijing-based Beijing Mammoth Art Co. Ltd had manipulated its connections in Hong Kong to avoid Chinese ivory regulations. Hong Kong’s environmental groups have mounted a vocal campaign against the territory’s ivory traders. A coalition of local school children protested the Chinese state-owned retail chain Chinese Arts & Crafts (which has outlets across the mainland and Hong Kong), and in 2014, the retailer responded with an announcement that it would sell only mammoth ivory. The commitment did not apply across mainland China, however; the Beijing arm of the company—an enormous shopping mall located near the historic city center—continued to sell both elephant and mammoth ivory products in summer of 2016. “After the Hong Kong government bans elephant ivory in the new year, Hong Kong's trade in mammoth ivory will also need a closer look,”
says Alex Hofford, an environmental activist and WildAid wildlife campaigner, who alleges that prehistoric ivory trade is a “cynical laundering mechanism for freshly poached elephant ivory.” ... NEBRASKA MAMMOTH TRIVIA The sale or purchase of mammoth ivory is not regulated in the state of Nebraska. ...
A PRECIOUS SCIENTIFIC COMMODITY University of Michigan professor Daniel Fisher says that China’s mammoth ivory supply chain is cutting into a precious scientific resource. “Tusks hold the history of a mammoth’s life,” Fisher says. “Tusks are highly specialized incisor teeth, and they grow by adding thin layers of material, only 10-20 microns thick, for every day of the animal's life. The composition and density of new tusk material varies with the seasons, in an annual cycle, so that a tusk also ends up showing annual layers that are, in principle, something like the rings of a tree.” Cross-sections of tusks analyzed under a microscope can reveal the mammoth’s reproductive cycles, daily behavior, and might even offer clues into the secrets of global warming through changes in the creature’s diet. “We’re also looking at how they responded to human expansion into the Arctic, so this is also a story of our history,” he says.
can. Even if some ivory doesn’t fetch a prime price, it might be worth something, and they don’t leave much behind,” he says. Sometimes the modern mammoth hunters discover tusks from places where ancient human hunters stored carcass parts. Removing specimens from these sites destroys the archeological context, which scientists could otherwise study. Sometimes, he says the Russian Academy of Sciences will flag tusks for scientific retention. But that’s still rare, and by the time they do, site-specific data is already lost. Fisher’s research has taken him all over the world. Even Nebraska. In 2006, he examined the Crawford mammoths (then-housed at Morrill Hall in Lincoln). The fighting mammoths, locked in eternal battle, are now on display at Fort Robinson’s Trailside Museum in the northwestern corner of the state. George Corner remembers Fisher’s visit, and he laments that most of the tusks recovered with Nebraska’s mammoths are in no suitable shape for carving. “You don't hear a lot about fossil ivory in Nebraska. Special conditions preserve the tusks, like the frozen permafrost of Alaska or Siberia,” Corner says. “If you were to pick up a tusk from the loess soil around Omaha, you would just have a pile of tusk fragments.”
For the past 18 years, Fisher has made annual trips to study mammoth excavation sites in Siberia. While exploring the most desolate corners of the Russian tundra, he has traveled by helicopter, boat, reindeer sled, and even hovercraft. But most of his fieldwork is done on foot.
... NEBRASKA MAMMOTH TRIVIA “We find elephant remains all the time in Nebraska. But it’s rare to find a skeleton or even a partial skeleton anymore. That’s because of a change in road construction practice. Instead of letting road cuts lay open, the Roads Department will immediately grass them over or seed them with hay. So, we don't have a lot of time anymore to look at road cuts.”
“In many cases, I was following in the footsteps of the ivory hunters, and they are getting all they
- George Corner ...
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Each year, more than 1,000 community members attend Art & Soup and enjoy soups, breads, and desserts served by area chefs and restaurants while viewing items from local artists. At least 50 percent of the proceeds from the evening’s art sales go to the Visiting Nurse Association. More than 60 artists and restaurants are expected to participate this year. This signature event enables VNA to provide nursing services in all homeless and domestic violence shelters in Omaha and Council Bluffs, as well as to youth living on the streets, through its shelter nursing program.
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NURSE OF THE YEAR COMMITTEE Susan Adams Retired Teresa Barry Associate professor, interim director of Evaluation UNMC-College of Nursing Chrissy Wilber Director, Pediatric Clinics Boys Town National Research Hospital Lisa McClane Executive director, Pediatric Services Nebraska Medicine
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Cindy Mirfield Service leader, NICU Methodist Women’s Hospital Karen Navis Director, Family Birthing Center CHI Health Good Samaritan Hospital Barb Petersen Director, Women’s and Children’s Services Faith Regional Health Services Judy Timmons Manager, Nursing Education and Professional Development Children’s Hospital & Medical Center Linda Walline Vice president, Nursing Columbus Community Hospital Jan Wintle Independent health care professional
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NURSING IS THE largest profession in health care, and one of the most recog-
nizable. Professionals from psychiatrists to surgeons use nurses each day to help care for patients with tasks from administering medicines to handing them tools of their trade. Nurses labor tirelessly, often for 12 or more hours at a time. On November 10, 2016, the March of Dimes took an evening to thank those vital professionals taking vital signs, and Omaha Magazine was in attendance as an event sponsor. Nominations are blinded, then scored by the volunteer committee. Scores were based on credentials, certifications, their proudest outcomes, leadership, professional associations, and achievements. The Nurse of the Year is determined by the nurse with the highest overall score. We again thank the nurses nominated for the March of Dimes awards, for taking care of us, each and every day.
Teri Tipton Vice president, Patient Care & chief nursing officer Methodist Hospital System Emily Mohs Neonatal nurse practitioner Children’s Hospital & Medical Center Inglish Camero Vice president, Patient Care Services CHI Health Lakeside Hospital Marsha Belz Director, nursing Medical/ Surgical Services Bryan Health JANUARY
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IT TAKES A TRULY EXTRAORDINARY NURSE TO WORK HERE. Nebraska Medicine nurses are dedicated to the highest standards of patient care. We proudly support those on our team honored by the March of Dimes Nurse of the Year Awards for their contributions to ÂŽ
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JOIN US. If you’re a nurse committed to providing extraordinary care, we have hundreds of openings throughout our organization, including positions in the new Fred & Pamela Buffett Cancer Center opening in 2017.
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NURSE OF THE YEAR WINNERS NURSE OF THE YEAR
Susan Beedle, Children’s Hospital & Medical Center, received her certified pediatric nurse degree from the University of Phoenix. She is a member of the venous arterial thrombosis prevention committee, Society of Pediatric Nurses, Pottawattamie County Board of Health, the Surgical Services Area Action Councils, the clinical practice committee, the house-wide central line associated bloodstream infection prevention committee, and many more. She has participated in the Lions Club’s Sight Program, which has performed vision screening for infants and young children since 2011. Her dedication to mentoring new nurses, "seasoned" nurses, and her peers in leadership is unfounded. Her nominator states, “There is no one else like her. She demonstrates what it is to be an advocate for children in both her professional and personal life. To try to keep up with her is impossible, she has energy that goes on for days and days. This energy is what draws people to her for both her expertise and vast knowledge in so many areas in pediatrics.” Her passion for her work in surgical services and as a clinical education specialist at Children’s Hospital & Medical Center has been evident throughout her career.
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Kyle McClellan, UNMC Omaha, makes significant contributions to the image of the student nurse. He stands out as a model not only for other students, but for professional nurses as well.
Justus Farrugia, Clarkson College, is outgoing, energetic, and makes an impression with his positive attitude towards his coursework and classmates. As he has developed his skills through clinicals he has remained enthusiastic and developed a client-centered mentality.
Jenifer Stremlau, Kaplan University, is both didactic and clinical. She goes above and beyond. Stremlau is exceptional at balancing the knowledge and technical skills required for nursing, yet never loses the ability to demonstrate compassion.
Shelby Stolze, Nebraska Methodist College, promotes a positive image of a student nurse during clinical rotations. Faculty members say her level of patient care, including care to families, is outstanding as she is compassionate and competent.
Cheyenne Jensen, College of Saint Mary, has organized study groups and reached out to students struggling with content. In addition to her academic and clinical achievements, she is active in the College of Saint Mary community.
Heather Palma, Kaplan University, provides her patients with the best care by ensuring their physical and emotional needs are met. Palma emulates everything that this award represents.
Claire Mayer, Creighton University, can always be counted upon to provide the in-depth care of the mind, body, and spirit of her clients. Mayer is flexible and shows ability to juggle so many aspects of her life.
Yanet Rouillard, UNMC Omaha, performs at an exceptional academic level in the classroom and clinically. She has consistently impressed her instructors with her clinical development in the areas of critical thinking, problem solving, and decision making.
Miranda Meyers, UNMC Omaha, understands the importance of promoting a positive image of the student nurse and exhibits the highest levels of character, integrity, caring, professionalism, and commitment as a student and future nurse.
policy and procedure.
Lauren Kroeker, Bryan College of Health Sciences, is a leader in her local chapter of the American Association of Critical Care Nurses. Kroeker encourages the use of evidence-based practice in
Carolyn Hanus, College of Saint Mary, demonstrates professionalism, advocacy, confidence, and enthusiasm in the classroom and clinical settings. Her commitment to nursing education includes her commitment to her classmates as she advocates for their success. Lacie Ferguson, Bryan College of Health Sciences, consistently demonstrates critical thinking and nursing judgment when caring for her clients. She does very well in the classroom and is able to transfer this knowledge to the clinical setting.
JANUARY
// FEBRUARY • 2017 / 77 / BESTOFOMAHA.COM
nurses associations.
Marion Techentien, UNMC Scottsbluff, demonstrates a professional demeanor in all of her clinical experiences and promotes a positive image through her leadership role in local and state student
Kayla Franey, Kaplan University, demonstrates a thirst for knowledge by her never-ending commitment to investigating topics thoroughly. She is dedicated not only to her studies, but also to her classmates. Kayla exemplifies the future of nursing.
TOP NURSES Shelly Andre, CHI Health St. Elizabeth, had a significant role in reducing the number of catheter days in the ICU. She initiated a role for infection prevention on the daily multi-disciplinary rounds within the intensive care environment and had a direct impact on reducing infections within this department. Therese Nevinski, Methodist Hospital, was one member of the cardiac care unit who established a need for the American Association of Critical Care Nurses at a local level and serves as treasurer. Her contributions were pivotal to the 3-Star ranking given to Methodist by the Society of Thoracic Surgeons for their open heart program. Kayleen Parys, Methodist Hospital, exemplifies excellence in both in the clinical setting and as a volunteer in her own community. She is quiet, patient, thoughtful, and detailed in her work. As the chairperson for Methodist’s Unit Based Council, she was instrumental in increasing attendance and participation of staff members. Dr. Tiffany Moore, UNMC College of Nursing, has completed 10 publications with her team members and made over 20 presentations related to her practice and research area. She is truly remarkable, currently serving on over seven different societies or committees and compiling more than eight professional achievements. Brandi Stein, CHI Health St. Francis, sets high goals for herself. Within the last year alone she revised and implemented a new evidence-based breastfeeding policy; opened two new pumping/breastfeeding rooms in the hospital; and presented, got approval for the protocol of, and initiated the use of Medolac and donor milk.
NURSE OF THE YEAR WINNERS CONTINUED... Jolynn Hartman, Fremont Health, designed an obstetric hemorrhage cart, educated staff, and is working through quantitative blood loss practice patterns and documentation to help staff with early recognition and response to a hemorrhage. Hartman helps complete annual staff competencies that include drills for newborn code situations, hypertension management and protocols, and obstetric hemorrhage.
GLOBAL COMMUNITY NURSING
FAMILY CHOICE
Joceyln Araujo, Methodist Hospital, has completed three medical mission trips in the last three years, traveling to Africa and the Dominican Republic. She will be presenting info on her Africa mission trip to the Methodist Champions Council, UBC (cardiac unit based council), NICHE steering committee, and to the ACE and traditional nursing students at Methodist College.
Chrissi Jaeger, Nebraska Medicine, helped the unit-based council initiate and actively participate in conducting deep dives for hospital-acquired conditions. With any hospital-acquired condition that occurs in the workplace, she is engaged in determining what can be done to prevent a future infection from occurring.
RURAL
Melinda Endorf, Nebra ska Medicine, has truly found her calling in life. In one example of her work. Endorf found a doctor to take on a case from rural Nebraska, began contacting bed-management, requested an ICU bed, called the life-f light team to arrange transportation/medical records, and coordinated with the doctor and his team to get everything ready to accept this patient.
Tierney Schmidt, Fremont Health, is a nurse everyone would love to work with—she is calm, compassionate, and very conscientious. Schmidt has developed both posters and educational presentations on evidence-based chlorohexidine bathing to reduce infections. She also has presented on core measures, highlighting the importance of improving patient outcomes. April Deis, Bryan Health, has focused on developing a collaborative team environment to provide excellent patient care in her role as nurse manager of mother/baby care. In 2014 she was instrumental in implementing a lactation pod at Pinnacle Bank Arena.
ADVOCACY Nancy Kadavy, CHI Health, implemented the perinatal hospice program for CHI facilities. Kadavy has reached out to OB groups to notify them about this program, which helps patients who receive the devastating news that their unborn baby has a lethal condition or a diagnosis that is either incompatible with life or limits the life expectancy.
PEDIATRIC Amy Hansen, CHI Health St. Elizabeth, has been involved with many aspects of NICU care—such as education council and quality improvement council. She's currently serving on the NICU Outreach Team—traveling across the state to provide neonatal-related education to community hospitals. She has also been the main coordinator for the infant apnea center.
Kristine Hughbanks, CHI Good Samaritan, is always expanding her knowledge base and adding to her level of expertise in multiple areas of nursing. Whether promoting CHI staff on the Magnet journey, championing new changes in health care, supporting CHI’s Planetree philosophy, or supporting staff through changes in our facility and in staffing, she blazes a trail.
LEADERSHIP Aimee Black, Methodist Hospital, is an outstanding nurse leader, currently sitting on 11 committees. Patient focus is Black’s number one priority and she shows that daily by doing whatever she can to help her employees. Black shows great integrity and is always willing to listen to any of her employees’ problems or concerns.
PEDIATRIC Donnetta Perkins, Children’s Hospital & Medical Center, has played an integral part in the advancement of Children’s since 1980, with her focus being on the patient first while developing the nurses and pushing them to obtain professional excellence. Currently serving as the director of the NICU and fetal care center, she also participates in over five committees.
RESEARCH & EVIDENCE-BASED EXCELLENCE Kate Tyner, Nebraska Medicine, has produced outstanding outcomes by promoting infection control within Nebraska; and guided her team from its beginnings to become a national resource for other infection control and prevention teams around the country. Tyner goes on site visits to health care facilities throughout Nebraska and uses her knowledge of infection control to detect potential problems.
ACADEMIC EXCELLENCE Kathleen Duncan, UNMC College of Nursing, has been heavily involved with a team that focuses on improving the quality of life for heart failure patients through promoting exercise. In 2008, Duncan was invited to share two presentations at a conference sponsored by the National Institute of Hospital Administration of the Ministry of Health, Peking University Third Hospital in Beijing, China.
JANUARY
RISING STAR Mallory Husz, Nebraska Medicine, is eager to learn and grow as an ICU nurse, and is never afraid to ask questions. Husz offers to help others and takes on new and exciting patient assignments; she has volunteered to take even the most difficult patients because she has never cared for a patient with that diagnosis.
LIFETIME ACHIEVEMENT Beth Pfeffer, Nebraska Medicine, was the leader in charge of turning a small diabetes clinic into a truly comprehensive diabetes program and center. She, and her physician colleagues, created a one-stop shop for patients needing care for diabetes and other endocrine disorders. Pfeffer has a long history of caring for patients with diabetes.
ADVANCED PRACTICE Sara Seemann, Bryan Health, is the epitome of an advanced practice nurse. Her influence is evident in her work on throughput, strokes, and protocol development, and through her leadership in the Nursing Professional Practice Council. She has held positions within the Nebraska Nurses Association, including president, and the American Nurses Association. She has presented at the Heartland Health Alliance and Southeast Community College.
CLINICAL EXCELLENCE Katie Circo, Nebraska Medicine, is working on developing nurse-driven protocols for the trauma team and burn nurses to follow regarding fluid resuscitation, burn wound care and tube feeding. She is certified in advanced burn life support and as an advanced burn life support instructor. Circo has been instrumental in helping develop a thorough disaster response plan. Callie Duch, Nebraska Medicine, is a critical care nurse and the lead inpatient nurse in the burn intensive care unit. She has assisted patients, families, and staff through all transitions of care. She participates in various conferences, holds a membership in the American Burn Association, and became certified as an advanced burn life support instructor.
// FEBRUARY • 2017 / 78 / OMAHAMAGAZINE.COM
NURSE OF THE YEAR NOMINEES ACE UNIT SERVICE Aimee Black Methodist Hospital ACUTE CARE Katie Aase Rock County Hospital JoAnne Gearhart Faughn Madonna Rehabilitation Hospital Lauren Minzel Madonna Rehabilitation Hospital Carol Lynn Muth Columbus Community Hospital Andy Sass Methodist Hospital ADMINISTRATION Kathleen Duncan, Ph.D. UNMC College of Nursing Kristine Hughbanks Good Samaritan Susan Jeffrey Nebraska Medicine BIOCONTAINMENT Kate Boulter Nebraska Medicine BURN SERVICES Katie Circo Nebraska Medicine Callie Duch Nebraska Medicine CANCER SERVICES Susan Daubman Nebraska Medicine Ellen Stuva Nebraska Medicine CARDIAC Jocelyn Araujo Methodist Hospital Bud Erickson Methodist Hospital Abby Foxhoven Nebraska Medicine Jennifer Nelson Methodist Hospital Therese Nevinski Methodist Hospital Jennifer (J.D.) Suponchick Nebraska Medicine
DERAMOTOLGY Colleen Mueller South Lincoln Dermotolgy clinic
INFECTION SERVICES Jennifer Meiergerd St. Francis Memorial Hospital
DIABETES SERVICES Beth Pfeffer Nebraska Medicine
Kate Tyner Nebraska Medicine
Stacy Wolfe St. Elizabeth Regional Medical Center
EDUCATION Erin Jordan Nebraska Medicine
INPATIENT Linda Brady Boys Town National Research Hospital
NICU Sharon Detten Bergan Mercy Medical Center
Robin Kappler Bryan College of Health Sciences
Allison Huebner Children's Hospital & Medical Center
Nancy Kadavy Bergan Mercy Medical Center
Kimber Mclean Nebraska Medicine
Dawn Sloan St. Francis Medical Center
Kerri Peterson Methodist Women's Hospital
INTERNAL MEDICINE Anne Morgan Nebraska Medicine
Molly Lebeda Children's Hospital & Medical Center
Sara Quinn Regional West Health Services
LABOR & DELIVERY April Deis Bryan Health
Mellisa Renter Children's Hospital & Medical Center
Jolynn Hartman Community Hospital
Marisa Schaffer Bryan Health
Jillian Kaiser Creighton University Medical Center
Ashley Schmit Children's Hospital & Medical Center
Brandi Stein St. Francis Medical Center
EMERGENCY Pat Gobel Nebraska Medicine Nicole Hansen Methodist Hospital
Christine Vogt St. Elizabeth Regional Medical Center
Molly Johnson Children's Hospital & Medical Center
MEDICAL SURGICAL Lindsey Anderson Methodist Hospital
Sara Seemann Bryan Health
Kyle Brichacek Lakeside Hospital
ENT Bonnie Gengler Boys Town ENT Clinics
Andrea Brouillette St. Francis Medical Center
FLOAT POOL Holly Marshall Midlands HOME INFUSION Lisa Davidson Methodist Hospital ICU Melinda K. Endorf Nebraska Medicine
Mallory Husz COMMUNITY & PUBLIC HEALTH Nebraska Medicine NURSING Fran Henton, Ph.D. Chrissi Jaeger Nebraska Methodist College Nebraska Medicine CRANIOFACIAL Tina McDermott Children's Hospital & Medical Center
Julie Sudtelgte Creighton University Medical Center
Toni Nielson CHI Health
Elizabeth Markmann Lakeside Hospital
Karen (Jeannie) Taylor Bergan Mercy Medical Center
Lindsey McGargill Methodist Women's Hospital Tracy Meyers Bergan Mercy Medical Center Donnetta Perkins Children's Hospital & Medical Center
®
PAIN MANAGEMENT Lynne Meece Nebraska Medicine
PEDIATRICS Michelle Alloway Marlene Lindeman Children's Home Healthcare UNMC College of Nursing Kristine Anguiano Boys Town Specialty Clinics Jessica A. Sawyer Richard Young Jessica Bissen Behavioral Health Children's Home Healthcare RADIATION THERAPY Tammi Collins Robin DeVries Boys Town Pediatric Clinics St. Elizabeth Regional Medical Center Deb Cunningham Boys Town Pediatrics Clinics REHABILITATION Mandy Stockdale Tina Dean Methodist Hospital Boys Town Specialty Clinics Sarah Franklin Children's Physicians West Pointe Village
SCHEDULING Kathleen A Miller Nebraska Medicine
Megan Frans Boys Town Pediatric Clinics
SLEEP LAB Amy Hansen St. Elizabeth Regional Medical Center
Katherine Gruner Children's Home Healthcare
Catherine Stanton Nebraska Medicine
Julie Hendrickson Boys Town Pediatric Clinics
NURSE COORDINATOR SHORT STAY Justine Cox Methodist Hospital
Amy Hull Boys Town Pediatric Clinics
NURSE PRACTITIONER Heidi Brooks Methodist Hospital NURSE STAFFING Lori Hayden Nebraska Medicine OB/GYN Diane Carlson St. Elizabeth Regional Medical Center Tiffany Villota Methodist Women's Hospital
Sara Kirlin Children's Physicians Creighton University Stacy Kreikemeier Children's Physicians West Pointe Village "Anne" Margaret Mai Boys Town Pediatric Clinics Nesha Potts Children's First Pediatrics Rebecca Roberts Children's Physicians Creighton University Susan Rorie Lincoln Pediatric Cardiology Clinic
Lora Marvin St. Francis Medical Center
ONCOLOGY Kayleen Parys Methodist Hospital
Kortney Parks Lakeside Hospital
Sara Vaghy Methodist Hospital
PERINATAL Tiffany Moore, Ph.D. UNMC College of Nursing
Tierney Schmidt Community Hospital
OPERATIONS IMPROVEMENT Shelly Andre St. Elizabeth Regional Medical Center
POST-ANESTHESIA Jessica Flowers Immanuel
Michelle Scotter Children's Hospital & Medical Center Brittani Seagren Methodist Hospital Mica Stanfield Bergan Mercy Medical Center
JANUARY
ORTHOPEDIC Teresa Jones Boys Town Orthopaedic Clinics Katelyn Kauffman Methodist Hospital
PSYCHIATRIC Brian Bean Lasting Hope Recovery Center
Michelle Shields VNA PROGRESSIVE CARE Jason Heimes Methodist Hospital
// FEBRUARY • 2017 / 79 / BESTOFOMAHA.COM
SURGERY Susan Beedle Children's Hospital & Medical Center Heidi Bober Methodist Hospital Julie Kamphaus Methodist Hospital SWING NURSE Carrie Hake Memorial Hospital, Schuyler TRANSPORT Jessica Miller Children's Hospital & Medical Center UNIT MANAGER TELEMETRY Debbie Simonin Methodist Jennie Edmundson Hospital URGENT CARE Margaret Heggen CHI Health 42nd & L St. Clinic Paula Kehm Children's Hospital & Medical Center Mira Lett CHI Health 42nd and L St. Clinic
OMAHA HOME opener Sandy Matson Contributing Editor, OmahaHome
T
THERE ARE TWO ways we can look at
January: A. Sit around on your duff and sulk about the winter weather, or B. get moving and gear up for the rest of the year! I decided this year I would combine two projects into one, you know, like the old saying, “Kill two birds with one stone.” Every issue of Omaha Home for the next year will include one of my DIY projects, which will culminate with my own year-long home project. Now, stay with me. I am converting my third spare room into a dressing room. Our walk-in closet just isn’t big enough, you could say, or maybe I just want a reason to have a room all to myself. So, after much consideration as to how I would tackle this large project, I have decided to take you, the reader, on the transformative journey. Check out my to-do list on page 84, where I explain how I am gearing up for this year-long renovation project (and catch a glimpse of the room before I waive my magic wand). In the current issue, be sure to check out page 94 for information about the Habrocks' home. It’s a great story: Kara Habrock grew up wanting to live in that home, and as an adult, she made her dream come true. While a cozy country home is just the place for winter, those wanting to live in a hip downtown condo will enjoy our article on Ian Rose and Robert Voelte on page 100. These teachers collect art— specifically fiber arts—and decorate their homes seasonally. I’m not talking about putting up and taking down a Christmas tree. They completely reinvent their home with warm colors in the fall and cooler colors for the summer. It’s a new year and a great time to start fresh with something you have been putting off. These cold winter months in Nebraska can certainly help with those chores that always seem to be pushed aside when the weather outdoors is more inviting. Cheers to another wonderful and blessed year!
AT HOME WITH THE HABROCKS
Their Renovated Louisville Farmhouse
Sandy OmahaHome
"January brings the snow, makes our feet and fingers glow."—Sara Coleridge
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Sandy's Makeover
FROM A SPARE ROOM TO AN ELEGANT DRESSING ROOM
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OmahaHome January/February 2017
DIY story by Sandy Matson photography by bill sitzmann design by matt wieczorek
L
ET’S BE HONEST. We all have our dirty
secrets—sometimes that secret is a collection of things. Some people may keep those collections confined to a drawer or a closet, but if you are like me, the clutter just expands into other places, sometimes into an entire room.
That is where my vision of “killing two birds with one stone” came to mind. We have just one lonely room left in our whole house that has not been renovated, and in it sits all my clutter and to-do DIY projects. Rather than feel overwhelmed with trying to tackle too much at one time for my renovation project, why not spread it out all year long? Then you can see how the steps of the renovation come together for one functional room—a dressing room! We are not talking about a room that has been turned into a closet. While there will be a closet in it, the room needs to serve multiple functions and become a pretty extension of our house. Normally I like to renovate a room and then decorate it, but in this instance, I want to create each project individually and show you what functions each project plans to serve. We will start with the March/ April issue, and end with the grand reveal in January/ February 2018. Along the way I will work on the room itself, painting walls and trim, and reconfiguring the closet to maximize the space. I hope you look forward to my first piece in the next issue, and I look forward to any feedback. Don’t forget to follow us on social media. If you miss one issue, back issues are online at readonlinenow.com, and you can always go there and check it out. OmahaHome Visit readonlinenow.com for more information.
January/February 2017 • omahamagazine.com
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THE HISTORIAN’S PERSONAL COLLECTION HOWARD HAMILTON’S HOME ARCHIVE
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Spaces story by Ryan Borchers photography by bill sitzmann / design by matt wieczorek
January/February 2017 • omahamagazine.com
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Spaces
H
OWA R D H A MILTON, 82, has
read every issue of every Omaha newspaper dating back to 1854.
The Omaha historian, who was once fluent in 12 languages, moved to the area at age 5 with his family in 1939 and has lived here ever since (with the exception of language immersion studies at Georgetown University and a three-year stint in Pakistan with the U.S. Army). He remembers how busy downtown Omaha used to be. “At that time, all the way from Leavenworth to Capitol was crowded during the day,” he says, remembering all the shops and the post office at 16th and Dodge streets. “It would be like if you saw a picture of New York City’s Times Square.” It seems fitting that a man who has seen so much of the city during so many phases of time should have a passion for history. Hamilton fondly remembers his third-grade teacher making the students recite all the U.S. presidents, from George Washington up to then-president Truman, every morning. (He can still do it today.) Hamilton has a particular passion for Omaha history. He taught it for years at Metropolitan Community College. In 1990, he founded and served as the first president of the TransMississippi Exposition Historical Association, named for the 1898 event that brought 2.6 million visitors to the city, one of them U.S. President William McKinley. >
Newspapers in Howard Hamilton's collection memorialize local and world history. / H88 /
OmahaHome January/February 2017
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OmahaHome January/February 2017
DECEMBER 2015
LAUREN GARRISON Surly Lass, British Sass BOBSLEDDIN G? IN NEBRASKA? Olympic Gold Medalist Curtis Tomasevicz BEST DOCTORS OMAHA 2015-2016
Rev
. John Jenk FROM OM ins AH
NOTREto DA A ME
SpAces
Hamilton claims to have the world's smallest whittled chair in his archive.
< Hamilton published a book of 500 trivia stories about Omaha history, as well as a series of calendars with every day of the year marked by an event in Omaha history. In 2012, he donated thousands of newspaper clippings to The Durham Museum. The collection’s name? The Howard Hamilton Research Archive. Now retired, he uses his house as a storage space for artifacts he has collected over the years. A tour of his collection reveals some amazing stuff: • A copy of the first issue of The Omaha Daily World from 1885. And a copy of the first issue of the The Omaha World-Herald from 1889. • A piece of human hipbone from Omaha Beach. Hamilton found it when he visited in 2002 and thought it may have come from when the Allies stormed the beaches at D-Day. So, Hamilton brought it back to Nebraska with the intention of donating it to veterans.
(A pathologist at the University of Nebraska Medical Center revealed that it was human, but not from 1944. “This bone is 3,000 years old,” Hamilton says the pathologist told him. The bone likely came from someone who drowned in the Atlantic and washed up on the beach.) • A piece of brick from a 1904 Omaha sidewalk that reads: “DON’T SPIT ON SIDEWALK.” • An article about the only man ever to survive being scalped, as well as a picture of the man and a picture of the scalp. The man was at the Plum Creek Massacre and was brought to Omaha afterward. “They attempted to have the scalp replaced after he recovered,” Hamilton says. When that did not work, “they gave it to him, and then he donated it to Omaha.” These days, Hamilton seems to be feeling good about a pretty incredible find. >
January/February 2017 omahamagazine.com
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The archive includes everything from collectible buttons to souvenir programs.
Out of the Douglas County Historical Societyâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s collection of 6 million artifacts and records, the biggest showcase is the General Crook House Museum.
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OmahaHome January/February 2017
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< U.S. President Grover Cleveland visited Omaha in 1887 because his wife inherited property from a Council Bluffs family. Naturally, The Omaha Daily World devoted front-page coverage to the visit on Oct. 12. But not all of the copies were on newsprint.
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“In 1887, [the paper] published this and made five copies on satin,” Hamilton says. Of those five satin copies, Cleveland received one and the heirs of Gilbert Hitchcock, the founder of The Omaha Daily World—who later bought The Omaha Herald and consolidated the two papers to form The Omaha World-Herald— received another. And one is hanging on Hamilton’s wall, framed and in mint condition. “It was at an antique store, in an envelope,” Hamilton says. “Twenty dollars.” The storeowner knew it was original, but thought it was one of hundreds. Now it is behind glass at Hamilton’s house, a shiny newspaper with a story about Cleveland’s visit. The fold lines are prominent in the satin.
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“About the time I bought this, I had seen one in Glenwood, Iowa, tattered,” Hamilton says. “But mine was in an envelope, just like this.” OmahaHome Visit durhammuseum.org for more information.
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January/February 2017 omahamagazine.com
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At Home story by Sarah Wengert / photography by Bill Sitzmann / design by matt wieczorek
CLASSIC MEETS CONTEMPORARY IN A LOUISVILLE FARMHOUSE
KARA AND MONTY HABROCK’S CUSTOMIZED DREAM HOME
T
HEY SAY YOU can never go home again—but Kara Habrock
managed to make it happen. The Louisville, Nebraska, native was living in Omaha with her husband when they felt pulled back toward their small-town roots. “We’re both from a small town and just couldn’t fight it,” Kara says. “I never envisioned I’d be back in my little hometown, but it's worked out great.” Monty Habrock, whom Kara met while attending the University of NebraskaLincoln, is originally from Emerson, Nebraska. The Habrocks first moved to an old home on five acres just outside of Louisville. They lovingly remodeled the house, but it still wasn’t quite the right fit for their family, so they considered moving again. Kara had the perfect alternative in mind; in fact, it was a house she’d had on her mind practically her whole life. “This was definitely my idea,” Kara says, of the Habrocks' current home, a 100-year-old, two-and-a-half-story, remodeled farmhouse poised on a hill at the edge of town. “I grew up two blocks away, and my bedroom window looked right at this house. There was an old barn with Dutch doors where the new barn is now, horses, and a paddock. I’d walk over as a little girl and pet the horses. This house was like an anchor on the end of town, just that big old white farmhouse, and I just loved it as a kid.” >
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OmahaHome January/February 2017
From left: Sophie, Kara, Monty, and Claire Habrock stand in front of their "party barn."
January/February 2017 â&#x20AC;˘ omahamagazine.com
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One of the Habrock’s Australian shepherds looks for someone to play with.
< In fact, when Kara was 12, her parents actually considered buying the same farmhouse, but instead opted to build their own new home. “I was just devastated. My mom still laughs to this day and says, ‘You never got that out of your head, did you?’ It was definitely a longtime dream,” Kara says. Initially, Monty was not onboard. But the family had a front-row seat to a consistently re-emerging “for sale” sign each Sunday as they drove past the house on their way to church. In the end, it was a simple twist of traffic that brought Monty around. “I surprised her on a Sunday morning. I was going into town for coffee and nearly got hit by a truck pulling out on the highway from our old house. I thought, ‘My kids are driving soon, and that could happen to them.’ So, I came in and said, ‘Kara, let’s buy that house.’ It’s only six blocks from school, I thought, they can't hurt themselves,” Monty says with a laugh. >
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OmahaHome January/February 2017
At Home
The renovated farm home includes a mix of original features and contemporary design. January/February 2017 â&#x20AC;˘ omahamagazine.com
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One fun feature of the property is the Habrocks’ “party barn,” which includes a big-screen TV for watching movies or sports events with friends. / H98 /
OmahaHome January/February 2017
At Home
“I’ve always had to reconcile my love of old things with my love for sleek, modern things. The inspiration for the design and decor of the house was to make that all make sense together in an eclectic mix of old and contemporary,” -Kara Habrock
< “I was in the shower washing my hair when he said that. I’ll never forget it. I called the realtor that afternoon before he could change his mind,” Kara says. Due to its age and the Habrocks’ ultimate vision, the property needed lots of work. They both work at Roloff Construction, originally owned by Kara’s father, Larry Roloff. These days, Kara is vice president and general manager; Monty is vice president and chief estimator. The majority of their work is underground, for example, sewer projects for MUD and establishing the underground infrastructure for the CenturyLink Center and TD Ameritrade Park. Although they don’t specialize in the type of construction needed to renovate their home, their experience nonetheless proved helpful. “The line of work we’re in, it makes you see what’s possible,” Kara says. “We have an eye for looking at a piece of ground and visualizing the possibilities, where a lot of people can’t. We knew it was possible, but it would be a long project.” The Habrocks enlisted Steve Cramer of Cramer Kreski Designs as architect, Tom Slobodnik with Slobodnik Construction Group as builder, and Mary Murphy of the Interior Design Group as decorator. “We had a great team put it together,” Monty says. “They really understood how we live and are all meticulous.” Kara adds the team had a great eye for the Habrocks’ love of “old-fashioned style with a modern twist.” “I’ve always had to reconcile my love of old things with my love for sleek, modern things. The inspiration for the design and decor of the house was to make that all make sense together in an eclectic mix of old and contemporary,” Kara says.
Kara says it was crucial to preserve as much of the original, traditional foursquare farmhouse as possible, despite the need to basically gut it to update wiring, plumbing, heating, and air, while also executing an add-on. “I can still tell where everything in the house was,” says Kara, pointing out features like original doors that have been repurposed within the home and a stretch of siding from the original home that has been relocated to an entryway. The Habrocks replaced the dilapidated old barn with a new structure they have dubbed the “party barn,” where they have hosted family graduation and anniversary parties, school and church club meetings, and other affairs. The barn is a bright, airy space with a kitchen, bathroom, and large main area that can be easily converted for any occasion. The family, which includes daughters Claire, 19, and Sophie, 15, as well as Foster, a 14-year-old mini Aussie, and Kooper, a 2-year-old full-size Aussie, even lived in the barn for eight months in 2013 while the main house was being completed. The Habrocks love entertaining family and friends—whether that is a couple dozen folks for Thanksgiving or a small, impromptu gathering for Game 7 of the World Series—and their warm, laughter-filled home is the perfect space for welcoming guests. “We’re very casual and like to have people over. We did not want it to be formal. We wanted open spaces with great little nooks,” Kara says. “It's a very lived-in house, and the biggest compliment we get is when people come in and say, ‘Oh, it's just so cozy and comfortable’ because that’s definitely what we were going for. We love being home.” OmahaHome Visit louisvillenebraska.com for more information.
A stairway divides their home and work lives. January/February 2017 • omahamagazine.com
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Feature story by Kara Schweiss photography by bill sitzmann & Keith Binder design by Matt Wieczorek
THE FABRIC OF LIFE
HOW SEASONAL TEXTILES REINVENT A DOWNTOWN CONDO
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OmahaHome January/February 2017
Just as the skies in winter can be gray, the dining room rug in this downtown condo turns to shades of charcoal.
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OmahaHome January/February 2017
Wood floors continue in the kitchen.
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HEN IAN ROSE and Robert Voelte moved to
a new condo on the top floor of the historic Beebe & Runyan Lofts, northeast of the Old Market and Gene Leahy Mall at Ninth and Douglas streets, the location provided everything the elementary educators and arts enthusiasts were looking for.
“We’re able to walk to the Holland. We’re able to walk to the Orpheum, the Old Market, all the parks down here. We’re also members of Film Streams, so we can walk over there as well,” Voelte says. “And as much as we’re passionate about teaching, we’re also passionate about travel. We’re close to the airport, which makes it really convenient because we do travel quite a bit, and it’s easy to get there.” >
January/February 2017 omahamagazine.com
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< However, the spacious two-bedroom, two-bath, 1,700-square-foot unit just can’t accommodate their entire collection of beloved artworks, furnishings, accents, and decor carefully selected over 30 years. So rather than giving up a sizable percentage of these treasures or relegating them to permanent storage, Voelte has come up with an inspired solution: change out decor and refresh the look of his and Rose’s home twice a year. “I thought about how museums only have a small percentage of their holdings on display at any one time,” he explains. “I decided to adapt that idea for my home and only display a limited amount of my belongings at one time, rotating things in and out. I am able to appreciate my home and the decor even more because everything always seems new and fresh to me.”
The process evokes good memories of past adventures, old friends, and even the story of how each item was acquired, Voelte says. The pieces come from all over the world, and much was purchased during or influenced by travel. Core favorites include an antique Chinese chicken coop used to store dishes and linens; an antique Japanese kitchen cabinet that serves as a bookcase in the master bedroom; hand-carved one-piece spider tables from the Bamileke tribe in Cameroon; mid-century walnut Eames chairs; Akari washi—paper lantern lamps made by Noguchi in Japan; and Verner Panton dining chairs. “I think our home is very unique,” he says. “My style is eclectic with Asian, African, natural, classic, and utilitarian themes. Authentic vintage textiles previously used in utilitarian ways—indigos from around the world, Indonesian ikats, Japanese obis, African tie-dyed raffia skirts, and Kuba cloth—are often the inspiration that begins the design process.”
“In late spring or summer, the feeling is lighter and fewer items are on display. The mood is brighter with hand-dyed indigo fabrics, khakis, whites, creams, and seashells—things I associate with summer” -Robert Voelte
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OmahaHome January/February 2017
It’s never quite the same look twice, Voelte adds, but he does work around his core pieces as well as some palette constants. “In late spring or summer, the feeling is lighter and fewer items are on display. The mood is brighter with hand-dyed indigo fabrics, khakis, whites, creams, and seashells—things I associate with summer because we are both teachers who look forward to travel, socializing, relaxation— recharging our batteries,” Voelte says. “In the fall and winter, decor gets changed out, including rugs, artwork, and linens, as well as some furniture rearrangement. It is a more spiritual, reflective, introspective time, which is reflected in darker colors: purples, charcoal, Chinese red. The decor is more layered with design elements.” The Renaissance Revival-style building in which the couple’s condo is located was built in 1913 to serve as a warehouse and showroom. The original architect was John McDonald, best known for the Joslyn Castle. The Beebe & Runyan building was listed on the National Register of Historic places in 1998. Rose and Voelte purchased their condo as a raw space following the building’s 2007 conversion. >
Textiles and artwork change with the seasons.
January/February 2017 â&#x20AC;˘ omahamagazine.com
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Feature
“My style is eclectic with Asian, African, natural, classic, and utilitarian themes. Authentic vintage textiles previously used in utilitarian ways— indigos from around the world, Indonesian ikats, Japanese obis, African tie-dyed raffia skirts, and kuba cloth—are often the inspiration that begins the design process.” -Robert Voelte
< “When we walked in, we immediately were drawn to the exterior brick wall on the west side, which has two inlaid brick arches that span three windows each,” Voelte says. “It is quite eye-catching.” Their unit boasts sloped ceilings that reach a height of 16 feet, original brick walls, and wood posts and columns. They finished the space as a semi-open loft designed with custom finishes and natural materials like walnut cabinetry built by hand, honed marble counters, and slate tile or refinished original birdseye maple f loors. >
Rose and Voelte collect art as souvenirs from their travels.
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OmahaHome January/February 2017
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Feature
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OmahaHome January/February 2017
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Original brick walls remain exposed in the historic structure.
< Every detail shows thought and consideration, like backsplash tiles that were hand-carried in a suitcase from California. Niche and built-in shelves highlight special artworks. “Everything has to be aesthetically pleasing to me or it won’t be in my house,” Voelte says.
The space was also designed with entertaining, especially dinner parties for family and friends, in mind. “I love to cook, so I spend a lot of time in the kitchen,” Rose says. “Our kitchen is so open that even when you’re in the kitchen, you’re not detached from the rest
of the home. I can still be in the middle of what’s going on.” “A s much as we love to travel, we love our home,” Voelte says. “We have a great life!” OmahaHome Visit beeberunyan.com for more information.
January/February 2017 omahamagazine.com
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Neighborhoods story by Wendy Townley photography by Bill Sitzmann design by matt wieczorek
Spacious yards allow plenty of space for kids to play. / H110 /
OmahaHome January/February 2017
STANDING BEAR POINTE January/February 2017 omahamagazine.com
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Neighborhoods
Shelley Callahan leads a neighborhood entourage back indoors.
S
PR AWLING AND QUIET in north-
western Omaha, Standing Bear Pointe is tucked a stone’s throw away from the intersection of 144th and Fort streets. Commuters undoubtedly pass by the neighborhood each day, likely giving little thought to the homes, the people, and the stories that live just beyond the stately stone entrance and large trees that open Standing Bear Pointe to the outside world. It’s possible that many find their way to Standing Bear Pointe quite literally by accident, looking instead for the neighboring Saddlebrook or Hillsborough neighborhoods. That’s exactly how Shelley Callahan found her future home, nestled in a neighborhood that, some 10 years later, she says she and her husband could reside in forever. “Even if we won the lottery, we probably wouldn’t leave the neighborhood,” she says.
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OmahaHome January/February 2017
As an image consultant, Callahan had traveled all around Omaha meeting with clients. A wrong turn one day brought her unexpectedly to Standing Bear Pointe. At the time, she and her husband, Ty, had been shopping for a new home; but even after a two-year search, nothing had felt quite right. Until Standing Bear Pointe. “I was drawn in by the size,” she recalls. “They were all custom-built homes, but with a uniqueness.” The neighborhood’s approximately 125 completed homes (and its more than 480 residents) have easy access to the Standing Bear Lake Recreation Area: the water, the green space, the mature trees, and all that Mother Nature and her four seasons could offer within the boundaries of a suburban setting.
The couple returned to the neighborhood soon after their first visit, spending a mere 15 minutes walking through one of the homes for sale. It didn’t take long for them to decide that it would be the home where they would raise their future children. “It was this feeling!” she says excitedly of their home. Something about the house itself and the nearby residences were all the confirmation they needed to stay for good. In the 10 years since, the Callahans have welcomed two young sons—Montgomery and Marshall—and a 10-year-old fox terrier named Sam. But more than that, the family has developed deep connections with their fellow Standing Bear Pointe neighbors. Many of the residents moved into the neighborhood, raised their children, retired—and never left.
THE PONCA CHIEF AND THE AREA'S NAME
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TANDING BEAR POINTE and
neighboring Standing Bear Lake are named for the Ponca leader Chief Standing Bear. In Omaha in 1879, Standing Bear successfully argued that Native Americans are “persons within the meaning of the law.” The court decision came after Standing Bear and followers escaped from forced relocation to Indian Territory (present-day Oklahoma).
She cites the mixing of generations that has created such a strong sense of community among her neighbors. Unlike the stereotype of today’s subdivisions, where residents pull into their garages each night without paying much mind to their neighbors, Standing Bear Pointe, Callahan says, feels a lot like family. The older families have bonded over the years, rearing children, retiring, and welcoming grandchildren—even great-grandchildren. The younger families also raise children together, often developing relationships through carpooling to school, walking the streets on Halloween, and visiting each other’s homes throughout the week simply to say hello. They have bonded during the annual block party and neighborhood garage sale, the impromptu backyard picnics that occur with little planning yet leave behind deepened friendships and fond memories. “It takes time to develop that kind of neighborhood,” she says. “There is a culture of Standing Bear Pointe. It’s safe with a small-town feel.”
And while Callahan and her neighbors are a mere two minutes away from a Baker’s Grocery Store, Target, and the other modern conveniences that come with living in an urban environment, they find themselves routinely visited by wild turkeys, foxes, and even deer. “Seeing the animals never gets old,” she says with a grin.
Standing Bear had sought to bury his late 16-year-old son on their ancestral land, near Ponca Creek and the Niobrara River. The federal government’s removal of the Ponca (also known as “The Ponca Trail of Tears”) took place in 1877. The 1879 case, Standing Bear v. Crook, lasted just 12 days. Judge Elmer S. Dundy in the U.S. District Court in Omaha ruled that Standing Bear and other Native people were lawfully allowed to enjoy the rights of other Americans. OmahaHome
Homes in Standing Bear Pointe often sell fast, Callahan says. (Omaha annexed the area in 2015.) New neighbors are routinely welcomed and join the family this community has created. Callahan points to a young man, a bachelor, who used to lived next door. He and the Callahans quickly became friends with a story to share: Shelley and Ty introduced their neighbor to his future wife. The couple eventually married. “We truly feel blessed to have found this neighborhood,” she says.” OmahaHome Visit standingbearpointe.org for more information. January/February 2017 omahamagazine.com
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Harvest story by Patrick McGee / photography by Doug Meigs / design by matt wieczorek
STALKING STOCKED RAINBOW TROUT
EASY OMAHA FISHING FROM FALL THROUGH SPRING
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HEN THE WEATHER gets cold in Nebraska,
make room in your kitchen for rainbow trout. Catch them from the shore before the lakes freeze over, and catch them through a hole in the ice (once a safe layer of ice has formed). Many anglers will catch their limit in less than an hour. When the bite is hot, parents will be pulling fish off of children’s hooks faster than they can drop a line into the water. Daryl Bauer, a fisheries biologist with the Nebraska Game and Parks Commission since 1988, says there’s plenty of trout to catch in select Nebraska waters throughout the winter. Bauer’s words were proven true by the crowds of anglers lining the banks at Standing Bear Lake this past fall. The number of anglers reeling in trout was almost as incredible as the number of darting and jumping trout visible from shore. Game and Parks generously stocked rainbow trout in Standing Bear Lake, Benson Park Pond, Century Link Lake at Mahoney State Park, Lake Halleck, Hitchcock Park Pond, and Towl Park Pond. The commission intended to stock 265,000 trout statewide this fall and winter. >
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OmahaHome January/February 2017
Writer Patrick McGee gets some quality time at Standing Bear Lake.
"Their idea of finding feed is swimming around and waiting for someone to drop pellets on their heads." -Daryl Bauer
January/February 2017 omahamagazine.com
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Harvest
< The trout are stocked from the Grove Lake Trout Rearing Station in Royal, Nebraska, where they are hatched and fed a specially formulated feed. Bauer says the feed is “not just junk food. It produces quality meat. These are quality fish.” The trout are raised until they reach about 10 inches in length, at which time they are ready to be stocked and caught. Bauer says it takes about 10 months to produce trout of this quality. When all is said and done, it costs about $1 to raise each trout. Funds come, in part, from fishing licenses. So, if you are licensed, you’re paying for trout. Catch them while you can, because Game and Parks does not intend for them to last after the winter. Bauer says trout are cold-water fish. He says Standing Bear will not be cold enough for the trout to survive in the summer. “If there’s any [trout] surviving in the summer, they will perish.” Bauer says that almost all of the trout are caught, and studies of tagged fish at Standing Bear show that 85 percent or more of the trout are being harvested before the water warms up. Catching trout from the shore and through the ice is simple. Bauer tells anglers to keep in mind that these fish have been raised in a hatchery their whole life. “Their idea of finding feed is swimming around and waiting for someone to drop pellets on their heads,” he says. Bauer says that varieties of Berkeley PowerBait “smell an awful lot like the pellets the trout are reared on.” A spinning reel with 6- to 8-pound test line is ideal, and the same rig can be used for both shore and ice fishing if you don’t have ice fishing gear. Bauer says his grandpa used his open-water rod through a hole and pulled fish through the ice. “You just have to stand a little further from the hole,” Bauer says. OmahaHome Visit outdoornebraska.gov for more information.
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OmahaHome January/February 2017
Winter weather makes perfect conditions for keeping the freshly caught trout while continuing to fish.
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January/February 2017 omahamagazine.com
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CLARENCE WIGINGTON A DIAMOND IN OMAHA’S ARCHITECTURAL HISTORY
The Broomfield duplex, built in 1913, won first prize for “best twofamily brick dwelling” in a national competition sponsored by Good Housekeeping magazine.
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OmahaHome January/February 2017
architecture story by Ashley Wegner / photography by Bill Sitzmann / design by matt wieczorek
January/February 2017 omahamagazine.com
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architecture
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HEN SHE LIVED a block
away, Linda Williams would pass the Broomfield duplex at 25th and Lake streets almost every day. That was a little more than a decade ago. As she walked past the duplex, she remembers thinking, “There is something interesting about that building… something I really like.” She liked the diamond shapes inside the top border, the hints of classical style in the columns in the front, as well as the rhythm and symmetry in the arched windows. She did not know what made the building so special until a 2002 trip to the Great Plains Black History Museum. It turned out that the Broomfield duplex, built in 1913, was indeed special. In 1909, it won first prize for “best twofamily brick dwelling” in a national competition sponsored by Good Housekeeping magazine. The duplex’s 2502-2504 Lake St. address was listed on the National Register of Historic Places, too. But what made it particularly significant was that it was one of many residential structures in the area designed by Nebraska’s first African-American architect and also the nation’s first African-American municipal architect— Clarence W. “Cap” Wigington. Williams was shocked. She had a Bachelor of Science in design from the University of Nebraska-Lincoln’s College of Architecture, and this was the first time she had ever heard about Wigington.
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OmahaHome January/February 2017
“I thought, ‘If I’m educated and I don’t know about him, there are a lot of other people who don’t know about him. So ever since then, I’ve been spreading the word about him.” -Linda Williams
“I thought, ‘If I’m educated and I don’t know about him, there are a lot of other people who don’t know about him,’” Williams says. “So ever since then, I’ve been spreading the word about him.” Williams, who works in the architecture field, has spent the last several years working to shine light onto Wigington’s work. She has presented seminars about Wigington for the Douglas County Historical Society and currently leads Restoration Exchange Omaha’s North 24th Street Walking Tour, which highlights three of Wigington’s significant Omaha buildings. Wigington was born in Lawrence, Kansas, in 1883 and his family moved to Omaha shortly thereafter. Wigington graduated from Central High School (then Omaha High School) at age 15 and worked for the prominent Nebraska architect Thomas Kimball for six years before opening his own office. While he was in Omaha, he designed almost a dozen homes by independent commission, mostly in his North Omaha neighborhood. In 1914, he and his family moved to St. Paul, Minnesota, where he served as a senior designer for the City of St. Paul for 34 years. He designed several municipal buildings as well as monumental ice palaces for the St. Paul Winter Carnival in the 1930s and 1940s. He passed away in Kansas City in 1967 at age 84. While Williams highlights several structures on her 24th Street tour, including Kimball’s Black History Museum and the Jewel Building (designed by F.A. Henninger), she spends a significant amount of time and effort explaining the three buildings on the route by Wigington. She talks about the Broomfield duplex and the fact that it was actually one of two identical duplexes on the corner designed by Wigington. The second, called the Crutchfield duplex, was destroyed by a fire in the 1980s. Williams talks about
Zion Baptist Church at 2215 Grant St., another structure on the National Register with big classical columns, original stained glass windows, and a cornerstone with Wigington’s name. And she talks about the prairie style and craftsman elements of St. John’s African Methodist Episcopal Church at 617 N. 18th St., which Wigington helped remodel. Williams’ dedication has so far caught the attention of architecture and preservation aficionados in Omaha and nationwide. In 2015, she won a diversity scholarship through Historic New England and she was recently named a Diversity Scholar by the National Trust for Historic Preservation. Another recent honor was particularly significant to Williams, even though it was not even for her. In October, the Central High Alumni Association inducted Wigington into their hall of fame. Since no one from Wigington’s family was able to accept the award, Williams was asked to accept on their behalf. Williams plans to deliver the award to the family, who live in Chicago, this year. It was a humbling honor to accept the award and a humbling duty to continue sharing Wigington’s legacy with everyone who will listen. She says it is important for people to know not only what he did, but that he accomplished so much during a time in history when black men faced significant challenges. “When you think about that particular time and era, there was Jim Crowism going on,” says Ethel Mitchell, current owner of the Broomfield duplex. “To have this black man do what he did and design this type of building was just unheard of. It’s hard to put words to that—it’s just outstanding.” OmahaHome Visit restorationexchange.org/events/ walking-tours to learn more.
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January/February 2017 omahamagazine.com
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Colorado Modern A mix of materials and a heavily treed lot gives this contemporary home a Colorado feel.
BRINGING MOUNTAIN INSPIRATION TO THE PLAINS
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OW DO TWO people, each with an
appreciation for very different tastes in design, come together to build their perfect dream home? When our client came to us, the husband leaned more towards a contemporary, midcentury modern look, while the wife loved a Colorado-inspired design. We knew the challenge of marrying these two concepts would be great. But the final product would be even greater.
OmahaHome January/February 2017
Lisa Cooper, Allied ASID, and Kris Patton, ASID, feel there is no higher compliment than to obtain new clients by referral from a previous clientâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s friends and family. This new home construction project was no exception. In order to realize the clientsâ&#x20AC;&#x2122; multipart vision, we teamed with Marshall Wallman, vice president of design at Curt Hofer & Associates, and his team to create this dream home. >
Transformations story by
Lindi Janulewicz, Interiors Joan and Associates photography by
Tom Kessler, Kessler Photography page design by
matt wieczorek
MEET THE DESIGNER
MEET THE DESIGNER
The interior design industry is fast-moving, challenging, and multifaceted. I love that I have the opportunity to be creative and technical, all in a day’s work. Our clients are amazing people, and the projects that I’ve had the chance to work on have been extraordinary.
Design is my passion, and to have the opportunity to receive an education and the experience it takes to gain knowledge and expertise in this industry is such a privilege. I have amazing clients and have had the chance to work on incredible projects. I wouldn’t trade this career for the world!
lisa cooper
kris patton
January/February 2017 • omahamagazine.com
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Transformations
Textural fabrics and earthen accessories combine with tailored draperies to create a sophisticated space.
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< Our clients enjoy the topography and ambience of Colorado and the architecture of that region. They also like things a bit more contemporary, so we tried to meld together a vintage Colorado midcentury modern look for their new home. While the home itself was meticulously planned to achieve this design, the lot the family selected was just as important. A space with abundant trees would set the perfect tone for a woodsy, private residence.
OmahaHome January/February 2017
The home’s curb appeal sets the tone for the design elements that wait inside. The entrance—with its vast windows and incredible sightline from the workspace all the way to the dining room—makes a strong introductory statement. Main and lower levels of the home feature similarly strong design conceptualization in the fireplaces. They aren’t located on exterior walls, as fireplaces typically are; rather, the hearths are positioned in the centers of the rooms (to be more architecturally integrated into the spaces). Carefully placed windows allow for ample natural light to pierce the space. Not having a fireplace in a traditional placement, flanked by windows, adds interest. >
Wood detailing was added to the ceiling of the dining room to enhance the strong sightline created from the workspace entry all the way through the hallway and into the dining space.
January/February 2017 omahamagazine.com
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Transformations < Powder rooms on each level also provide an opportunity to get creative, and they incorporate high-end elements such as a stainless steel vessel sink, which perforates a quartzite countertop, and walls tiled in a 3D relief. A color palette of natural tones with blackened steel blue, fern green, aged ore, slate gray, and metallic burnt merlot creates an ambience that possesses an elusive balance between vintage and modern appeal. We relied upon myriad materials to achieve the design our clients desired. Natural stone, used in both the exterior and interior of the home, gives a rugged, earthy feel. A mix of concrete, weathered and reclaimed woods, organic natural stone surfaces, and quartz work symbiotically. Wood ceiling details, a kitchen backsplash fashioned of fern gray subway tiles with a vintage pattern, and handcrafted wall coverings all add to the unique flavor of this home. Perhaps one of the most striking elements of the home’s design scheme is the incredible use of light fixtures as art pieces. In an effort to avoid a predictable sea of sameness, we used a multitude of finishes from bronze to antique brass, to polished nickel, creating an acquired look in which each piece can be outstanding. People oftentimes look at lighting as functional, and they forget that light fixtures can be beautiful, artistic pieces in the home. For this project, we used sconces in the hall to transform industrial design into artful sophistication. The dining room fixture is a chandelier crafted of Cupertino wrought-iron branches, each supporting a delicate chain adorned with a single crystal bead. The entry pendants are made of distressed mercury glass, dressed in antique brass chainmail. And the nursery fixture is feminine and fresh, suggesting a vintage flower design with its glass petals and chrome detailing. The challenge of melding our clients’ appreciation of contrasting aesthetics of design proved to be a thought-provoking opportunity to create a true standout of a project… and their enthusiasm encouraged our efforts. They seemed to truly enjoy the process, expressing energetic and positive feedback on every aspect of their new home construction. The end result was a dream home with a cohesive design and a unique look…and two very happy homeowners. OmahaHome Visit asid-neia.org for more information. / H126 /
OmahaHome January/February 2017
Two hand-crafted wall coverings and wood detailing on the ceiling of this dining room create an intimate space.
January/February 2017 omahamagazine.com
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It’s everything you want in your home – from its fresh architectural style and detailing, to the classic timelessness that feels as perfect for your life today as it will in the years to come. It’s also why Curt Hofer & Associates is the area’s most inspired high-end homebuilder. Imaginatively conceived, flawlessly executed – let Curt Hofer & Associates create and build your new custom home.
FRESH. SIMPLISTIC. CLASSIC.
It begins with an idea. Please contact Curt Hofer & Associates at 402.758.0440. For an appointment, visit curthofer.com or see our Ideabook at houzz.com/curthofer.
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60PLUS opener
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Gwen Lemke Contributing Editor, 60PLUS In Omaha
N THIS EDITION of 60PLUS in Omaha, we bring you an indepth look an incredible man of football. Omaha’s own Marlin Briscoe was the recipient of many honors this fall and winter—from a celebration of his achievements at the University of Nebraska at Omaha in September to his induction into the College Football Hall of Fame in December. There’s even a movie in the works about his life. Leo Adam Biga has the story.
Meanwhile, Terry Currey tells us about his battle with Parkinson’s disease, which he calls “a battle of the mind versus the brain.” This article provides lots of information about the condition, including Currey’s advice for how to stay healthy and active with Parkinson’s.
FEATURE Marlin Briscoe Finally Gets His Due
HEALTH
Most Nebraskans know that Johnny Carson, the original host of The Tonight Show, hailed from our great state. But who remembers the burger joint that carried his name? Probably very few! Max Sparber brings us this historical story of nostalgia.
Parkinson's Disease
NOSTALGIA Where's Johnny's?
ACTIVE LIVING The Secret of the Shimmy
Now, in the depths of winter, maybe you are looking for a way to stay active indoors? If so, turn to Lisa Lukecart’s article about Della Bynum and her belly dancing studio. Learning to belly dance is not on my list of New Year’s resolutions, but maybe it would interest some of our readers. Here’s to a joyous new year for you and your family, from our family at Omaha Magazine. Cheers!
Gwen JANUARY
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marlin briscoe
The Magician Finally Gets His Due
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60PLUS
FEATURE
BY LEO ADAM BIGA // PHOTOGRAPHY PROVIDED BY UNO ATHLETICS & DENVER BRONCOS // DESIGN BY MATT WIECZOREK
O
MAHA NATIVE MARLIN Briscoe made his-
tory in 1968 as the NFL's first black starting quarterback. His success as a signal-caller carried huge symbolic and practical weight by disproving the then-popular misconception that blacks lacked the intelligence and leadership to play the position. The same racist thinking not only applied to quarterbacks but to other so-called thinking-man positions on the field (center, safety, middle linebacker) and on the sidelines (head coach, general manager). Even in those racially fraught times, Briscoe's myth-busting feat went largely unnoticed. So did the rest of the story. After overcoming resistance from coaches and management to even get the chance to play QB, he performed well at the spot during his rookie professional season, never to be given the opportunity to play it again. That hurt. But just as he overcame obstacles his whole life, he set about winning on his own terms by learning an entirely new position—wide receiver—in the space of a month and going on to a long, accomplished pro career. He made history a second time by being part of a suit that found the NFL guilty of antitrust violations. The resulting ruling, in favor of players, ushered in the free agency era. After retiring, Briscoe faced his biggest personal hurdle when a serious crack-cocaine addiction took him to the bottom of a downward spiral before he beat that demon, too.
"THAT'S WHERE I LEARNED RESILIENCE— FROM MY MOM, MY SISTER, AND ALL MY MENTORS, AND NEIGHBORS. THEY ALL HAD THIS TYPE OF MENTALITY AND GRIT. IT RUBBED OFF ON ME AND SOME OF THE KIDS I GREW UP WITH. IT PREPARED ME FOR ANYTHING." Now, nearly a half-century since making history and a quarter-century since regaining sobriety, Briscoe's story is finally getting its due. His 2002 autobiography spurred interest in his tale. Major media outlets have featured his story. Modern-day black quarterbacks have credited his pioneering path, and several lauded him in video tributes played at an event titled “An Evening with the Magician,” held in his honor in September at Omaha's Baxter Arena. A life-size statue of his likeness was dedicated at the tribute event. Also in the fall of 2016, he received the Tom Osborne Leadership Award. In December he was enshrined in the College Football Hall of Fame. Now, he's preparing to watch actor Lyriq Bent portray him in a major motion picture about his life, The Magician, set to film this spring. JANUARY
Briscoe played basketball and football at Omaha University.
If the movie, produced by his old Omaha University teammate-turned-actor John Beasley, is a hit, it will bring Briscoe's role as a civil rights soldier to a much wider audience than ever before. Now in his early 70s, Briscoe fully appreciates all that has led up to this moment. He has no doubt he's ready for whatever may come. Growing up in South Omaha's melting pot, no-nonsense mentors and peers steeled him for life's vagaries. Fierce competition toughened him. "The training I grew up with was the best training any young man or woman could have," Briscoe says. On playing fields and courts, in streets and classrooms, he found an inner resolve that served him well through life's ups and downs. "That's where I learned resilience—from my mom, my sister, and all my mentors, and neighbors. They all had this type of mentality and grit. It rubbed off on me and some of the kids I grew up with. It prepared me for anything. If I had not learned core values from growing up where I did, the things I did, the obstacles I overcame would never have happened."
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60PLUS
FEATURE
"THE TRAINING I GREW UP WITH WAS THE BEST TRAINING ANY YOUNG MAN OR WOMAN COULD HAVE."
His cousin Bob Rose and Baseball Hall of Fame pitcher Bob Gibson's oldest brother Josh Gibson were among a cadre of local coaches who inspired youngsters of Briscoe’s generation. "You had to go through them if you wanted to do something wrong, and you didn't want to go through them," Briscoe says. "Our mentors were down at the Northside Y, at Kellom School, Kountze Park, St. Benedict's. They cared about where we were going in life." When Briscoe was bullied as boy, Rose gave him a "magic box" filled with the tools of various sports—a baseball, football, basketball, and boxing gloves—with the admonition that if he mastered these, he wouldn't be bothered. He did and wasn't. The magic box became the gateway for the Magician to do his thing. Briscoe grew up respecting adults, all adults, even winos, hustlers, and prostitutes. "They told you to do something, you did it, and went on about your business,” he says. He conducted himself in a way that in turn earned him respect as a young leader. Virtually all the athletic teams he played on growing up consisted primarily of white players, which meant his entire athletic life he was advancing diversity. Long before he found immortality with the Broncos, he was the first black quarterback on youth teams, at South High, and then at Omaha University (now known as UNO). Though he lived in South Omaha, Briscoe made a point of going to the proving grounds of North Omaha, where there were even more great athletes and a particular endurance test and rite of passage.
"Off Bedford [Avenue] by Adams Park, there used to be The Hills. It was like the barrier and motivational place where top ballplayers like Gale Sayers and myself would go and work out. Sometimes, I would be up there early in the morning by myself running those hills. I always tell young people today, 'It is what you do when nobody sees you that defines and determines your work ethic and how you will turn out.' "There were plenty of guys with more ability than myself—who were bigger, stronger, faster—and while they worked hard when eyes were on them, they slacked off when they were alone. A lot of guys who never made it regretted not putting out the effort to match their ability." Briscoe might never have made history if not for some good fortune. He started at quarterback for Omaha University his sophomore and junior years, putting up good numbers and earning the nickname “Magician” for an uncanny ability to escape trouble and extend plays with highlight reel throws and runs. Just before what was supposed to be his senior year, 1966, he got undercut in an all-star basketball game at Bryant Center and took a hard spill. He went numb and was rushed to the hospital, where doctors decreed he was
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injury-free. He started the '66 season football opener versus Idaho State with no ill effects. He had a monster game. Then, late in the contest, he took a hit that caused his neck to swell. When rushed to the ER this time, X-rays revealed a fractured vertebra. He'd competed with a broken neck. Doctors told him his days playing contact sports were over. He accepted the harsh news and dived into his studies, ready to move on with life sans football. Then during a medical checkup, tests confirmed his bones recalcified, and he was cleared to play again. He got a medical hardship waiver from the NAIA and went on to have a huge senior season in 1967, earning small college All-American honors and getting picked in the 14th round of the NFL draft. He's convinced he wouldn't have taken snaps in Denver, which drafted him as a defensive back, if he hadn't negotiated his own contract to include a clause he be given a threeday tryout at quarterback. He so dazzled the media and the public during the open practices that once the season began and Denver QBs went down due to injury or were benched for poor play, he got his shot and ran with it.
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"Here I was on a park bench trying to get some sleep in the heart of L.A. after owning homes and property," he says. What was so maddening about it is that he had done everything right. "It was not like I left the game with nothing,” he says. “I left the game correctly, sitting on easy street. I had wise investments. I prepared to leave the game by going to school and getting additional degrees. I was not hurt. I was in perfect physical condition." But in the vacuum of his post-athletic life, without the daily disciplines of workouts and team dynamics, he slipped into an unhealthy lifestyle. "I let my guard down. I wasn't really prepared for the L.A. scene because my whole life was always about precision, being responsible,” he says. “Then, when I didn't have to meet all these different obligations and being single, I wasn't rooted in one direction—I was just partying. You know, bring it on." No one who knew Briscoe before could believe he was in the grip of something that controlled him so completely, least of all himself. "I had been a player rep. I was the one they always came to just as I was when I was a kid. I was the one people always came to for sage advice. And I never did drugs in the NFL,” Briscoe says. Briscoe, No. 15, playing for the Denver Broncos
Briscoe's larger-than-himself magic enabled him to make history in a crucible year for America—a year of riots, anti-war protests, assassinations, and civil rights struggles. "For some reason, divine intervention maybe, it just seemed the stars were aligned in 1968 for a black man to break the barrier at that position," he says. "It just seems 1968 was the pivotal year for all African-Americans, for all Americans period. For me to do it in '68 is just eerie, the way that happened." So much of his NFL experience, he says, involved fighting "injustices." Released by Denver and denied playing quarterback again, he excelled at a new position. Blackballed by the league for challenging its power, he won a hard-fought battle for himself and fellow players.
He insists he was not resentful for being shortchanged at quarterback. "I wasn't bitter, I was disappointed," he says. "When you're bitter, you give up, you take all this stuff personally, and you quit. I tell young people, 'You're going to have disappointments, and you're going to be treated unfairly, but you can't be bitter about it.' Instead, you roll up your sleeves and fight whatever negative things come your way. Plan A doesn't work? You go to Plan B. Life is just that way." Only after walking away from the game to be a broker in Los Angeles did he meet a foe—crack cocaine—that got the better of him. Before his recovery, he lost everything: his home, his fortune, his family.
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But there he was, enslaved to a habit he couldn't kick. Through it all, even losing his Super Bowl rings as collateral for a bank loan, he never forgot who he was inside and what he had done. Though homeless, penniless, and stuck in a jail cell when Doug Williams became the first black quarterback to lead a team to an NFL title, Briscoe felt he shared in that victory, too. "I felt proud on one hand, and disappointed in myself on the other hand,” he says. He sank lower than he ever thought possible, but he came back to whip that challenge, too: "The thing is, I always knew I would let go of that descent. I always knew and prayed I'd get back to that person all Omaha knew as this accomplished individual who conquered the NFL and enjoyed all these triumphs. The people that knew me are so elated now I've overcome my post-career meltdown because I had been a champion for them, fighting the NFL. I was always fighting for them and fighting for myself. I put myself in positions as a player where my voice could be heard."
60PLUS
FEATURE
Briscoe speaks with Isaac Goodwin at “An Evening With The Magician.”
Even though it was decades ago, he believes defying and defeating the NFL's monied interests left a blemish on his career that got further stained when he was traded several times as persona non grata. "I'm not bragging or anything, but if I had been any other player, I guarantee you, I'd have been in the NFL Hall of Fame a long time ago. Nobody had ever done it—making history as the first black starting quarterback. People don't realize I was also the first black holder on extra points. Counting cornerback and wide receiver, I played four different positions in the NFL, and I'm not sure anybody did that before. Then you add in the fact I made All-Pro as a receiver within two years of switching positions and went on to win two Super Bowls.” Efforts are underway to rectify his absence as a Canton inductee via a write-in campaign to the Hall's Veterans Committee. Just as Briscoe wasn't bitter about being shut out from playing quarterback after his rookie year, he wasn't bitter that other blacks followed him into the league at that position. "If I had not succeeded in 1968, James Harris would not have gotten drafted by the Bills as a quarterback out of Grambling in 1969. If I would have failed, they would have brought James in as a tight end. But the fact I was a litmus test and succeeded, they could take a chance on a black quarterback, and James was drafted. "Ironically, he and I ended up being roommates in Buffalo. We knew each other's plight. We would have conversations after practice. I would tell him different things that were going to happen to him and to be prepared for them." While Briscoe is known as the first black starting QB, another black man, Willie Thrower, briefly got into two games as a QB with the Bears 15 years before Briscoe's experience with the Broncos. High off his rookie year success, Briscoe had a chance meeting with Thrower in Chicago. The two men hit it off. Briscoe, Harris, Doug Williams, and Warren Moon have formed an organization called The Field General that uses the still-exclusive legacy of the black quarterback to educate and inspire young people. Blacks still comprise but a fraction of the professional QB ranks. The same is true of head coaches, coordinators, and general managers. That fact, combined with the journey each man had to make to get to those rarified places, reveals just how far the nation and league still have to go.
Never in his wildest dreams did Briscoe imagine his story would get so much attention this many years after he played. "It just goes to show that, if you never give up, a lot of these things will come your way. Sometimes things come late, like this movie project about my life,” he says.
He's sure the movie's message of "if you never give up, you've got a chance" will resonate with diverse audiences. He's proud to be living proof that anything can happen when you keep fighting. Visit marlinbriscoemovie.com for more information.
Briscoe says he only agreed to let his story be told in a movie if it stayed true to who he is and to what happened. "It's not for self-gratification,” he says. “It's hopefully as an inspiration for others that you can overcome any obstacle if you really want it. I look back on my life and see what it can do for others. It's not just a football movie. If it were, I probably wouldn't be a part of that interpretation of my life. My life is a lot more than just football."
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From left: Briscoe’s Omaha U. teammate Jimmy Williams, Briscoe, and his Denver Broncos teammate Floyd Little
MARLIN BRISCOE’S MESSAGE TO OMAHA Dear Omaha, It was one of the proudest moments of my life to be recognized before my hometown, a city that gave me mentors, guidance, love, and support. I extend my heartfelt thanks to you, the city of Omaha, and all those who have supported me along this journey. There have been many people from this great city who have guided me in my life, and without whom I would not be where I am today. Bob Rose, a coach and teacher who encouraged me at a critical time in my life; Ida Gitlin, the principal at South High who demanded excellence of her students; and Coach Al Caniglia, the former head football coach at Omaha University. Coach was particularly influential in my life. He looked past race and saw the potential in me, and I am tremendously thankful to him and my former teammates who encouraged me on the field and in the classroom.
"I ALWAYS TELL YOUNG PEOPLE TODAY, 'IT IS WHAT YOU DO WHEN NOBODY SEES YOU THAT DEFINES AND DETERMINES YOUR WORK ETHIC AND HOW YOU WILL TURN OUT.'"
In September, people from across Omaha and the country celebrated with me at Baxter Arena. My teammates, my friends from South High, students from Omaha Public Schools, and many other supporters came together to make it such a special night, one I will always remember. It was incredibly moving to me to see my likeness in bronze on UNO’s campus, and I am so proud that my legacy now includes a scholarship that will help students from our community attend university and pursue their highest ambitions. Thank you to everyone who helped make that happen. Nothing can be accomplished without our community coming together, and I am proud to be part of a moment in which it did. Thank you, Omaha. Sincerely,
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60PLUS
HEALTH
BY SUSAN MEYERS // PHOTOGRAPHY BY BILL SITZMAN // DESIGN BY MATT WIECZOREK
T
PARKINSON’S DISEASE the battle between brain and mind HE WAY TERRY Currey looks at
it, Parkinson’s disease is a battle of the mind versus the brain.
Diagnosed with Parkinson’s disease in 2009, Currey describes his brain as an antagonist that controls his body. The protagonist is his mind, which he applies with persistent determination and will power to overcome the malevolent part of his brain. Currey knows that in the end, his brain will be the victor. “But it’s not whether you win or lose,” he says, “it’s how you play the game.”
Parkinson’s disease is the second most common neurodegenerative disease— Alzheimer’s disease is the first—and usually occurs in individuals after age 60. The disease typically advances over a period of many years and affects movement, muscle control, and balance. Symptoms include a tremor, slow movement, loss of balance, and stiffness of the limbs. “When the disease reaches a moderate stage, the motor [skills] problems become more pronounced, medications may begin to lose their effectiveness, and non-motor symptoms begin to develop, such as swallowing issues, speech and sleep problems, low blood pressure, mood and memory issues," says Dr. Danish Bhatti, neurologist and codirector of the Parkinson’s Disease Clinic at Nebraska Medicine.
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Dr. John Bertoni, co-director of the Parkinson’s Clinic, is Currey’s physician. “The needs for Parkinson’s patients are very diverse and become more complex as the disease progresses.” Early diagnosis is the key to beginning proper treatment and helping manage progression of the disease, Dr. Bhatti says. Most people with Parkinson’s can get significant control of their symptoms with medications and a combination of other therapies, including occupational therapy, speech therapy, nutrition counseling, support groups, and regular exercise. “The benefits of exercise early on, and throughout the disease process, is significant,” he says. “People who are independent after 10 years are the ones who were very active early in the disease. The more active you are, the less likely you are to have severe symptoms.” continued on page 140
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Currey has been fighting the disease with an arsenal of tools that include medications, exercise, diet, and mind games. He says exercise has been critical in helping him stay active and keeping his muscle memory in place. He regularly uses his treadmill or elliptical, lifts weights, and participates in other activities like fishing, camping, mowing the lawn, snowblowing during winter, reading, and writing. Each is an important element in staying in the battle, he says.
"SOME DAYS IT’S NOT ONLY HARD TO MOVE, BUT TO WANT TO MOVE,” HE SAYS. “YOU HAVE TO HAVE A MISSION. YOU HAVE TO SET YOUR MIND TO WHATEVER IT IS YOU WANT TO ACCOMPLISH AND NOT LET THE ENEMY WIN." “Some days it’s not only hard to move, but to want to move,” he says. “You have to have a mission. You have to set your mind to whatever it is you want to accomplish and not let the enemy win.” To help others with the battle, Currey recently wrote a book, titled Neural Combat: Strategies and Tactics for your War with Parkinson’s Disease, available on Amazon. There were several goals Currey says he wanted to achieve with his book, such as helping individuals newly diagnosed with Parkinson’s to overcome their fear of the disease; to explain what is happening to them medically; and to assist them in developing tools to cope with the symptoms. “With Parkinson’s disease, you go through the stages of grief and denial, and finally resignation and acceptance,” Currey says. “It took me a while to accept it, but once I came to that realization, I decided that I’m in it to battle this to the end for as long as I have my cognitive abilities.” Visit pdf.org for more infomation.
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60PLUS
NOSTALGIA
BY MAX SPARBER // PHOTOGRAPHY PROVIDED // DESIGN BY MATT WIECZOREK
J
WHERE’S JOHNNY’S? the rise and fall of a local burger chain OHNNY CARSON WAS the definitive
talk show host of the 20th century, hosting The Tonight Show for three decades at a time when it was the undisputed king of late night television. Carson started his career as a professional broadcaster in Omaha, a fact that is fondly remembered. Carson started at WOW-TV in Omaha in the 1950s, and he remained friendly with many of his coworkers there long after he became a national celebrity. Carson was also an amateur magician and performed locally, a fact that appears now and then in local stories about the man. A now-defunct local business was associated with Carson’s name, too. But this endeavor has received less attention, as it didn’t go all that well. The idea was not Carson’s. It was that of Gilbert "Gibby" Swanson Jr., one of the scions of the Swanson company that introduced TV dinners to the American public. Gibby was the third generation of Swansons to run the company, despite his background, which had mostly been in various elements of security and law enforcement (which supposedly remained an obsession of his).
Swanson approached Carson with the idea of a restaurant chain bearing Johnny Carson’s name. It would serve typical American food with a Johnny Carson touch, such as the “Carnac Burger,” a sandwich named after one of Carson’s signature characters, an allseeing seer in a feathered turban. Carson lent his name to the project, but, he later claimed, little else—he was neither the owner of the business nor a stakeholder. He was, instead, board chairman, a job that was “mostly for publicity purposes,” according to the World-Herald. This would prove important later. There was initially much excitement about the opening of the chain, which debuted in Omaha on 72nd Street in 1969. Carson himself came out to promote the opening, taking a tour of his old haunts and charming the press. A second restaurant opened on Saddle Creek, but only lasted a few years.
Johnny Carson in 1970
Meanwhile, Here’s Johnny’s restaurants began to spring up across America—a reported 302 franchises were purchased in the U.S. and Canada. Of those that opened, most were short-lived, and in 1979 the company went
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bankrupt. The World-Herald reported that the Swanson family took a bath on the enterprise, with Gibby losing $1.77 million of his own money; Gibby owed another $1.2 million to other Swanson companies and his brother, Jay. Several franchise owners filed lawsuits against the company, claiming disastrous rollout, including kitchen equipment that “disintegrated,” as well as claims that franchisees were told Carson himself had invested in the company, only to later learn that this wasn’t true. In September 1976, the first Here’s Johnny’s restaurant on 72nd closed, bringing an end to the business. This wasn’t Gibby’s only failed franchise, but there is a happier ending to another story: Gibby hoped to start a franchise of fried chicken restaurants targeted at inner-city business owners, and partnered with sports stars Bob Gibson and Bob Boozer to achieve this goal. While the business never developed into a true franchise, it did manage to open one restaurant: Time Out Foods, which is still a beloved institution in North Omaha. Visit timeoutfoods.com for more information.
THE SECRET OF THE SHIMMY belly dancing at any age JANUARY
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60PLUS
ACTIVE LIVING
BY LISA LUKECART // PHOTOGRAPHY BY BILL SITZMANN // DESIGN BY MATT WIECZOREK
I
NHALE. EXHALE.
The slow Middle Eastern music increases in tempo.
The ladies’ hips sway side to side in rapid repeat. All three wear black spandex pants and V-neck T-shirts. Scarves, loosely wrapped around their waists, accentuate their movements. Bells jingle in time with the rhythm of the beat. “Don’t give away the secret,” Carol Wright warns as her hips pop. “If they want to know the secret to the shimmy, tell them to come and see Della.” The other two women laugh as their torsos undulate. Wright closes her eyes in a losingherself-to-the-music moment, hands on her rolling and rippling hips. “Is this too fast?” instructor Della Bynum asks from the side of the room. She has been watching this improvisation for a while, a half-smile on her face, relishing the freedom and artistry of the belly dance. “We will have to find out,” Wright says. “This is where you just have fun exploring,” Bynum explains. Anna Lewis, 22, struggles for a moment, “Which way should I go?” Lewis has been shaking her hips for about a year now. At 6 years old, she watched her mother and Della’s group perform for her Girl Scout troop. “My mom is re-inspired whenever she comes to visit and will always make sure she comes back to Della’s class,” Lewis says. Bynum steps in to help Lewis and demonstrates a front and back roll to add to the dance. The women continue as a solid unit. It isn’t the shimmy that is the secret, but it is this connection of women coming together to celebrate themselves and each other. Feeling that connection is one of the main reasons why Bynum stays in dance. Bynum, 67, believes belly dancing creates a bond regardless of age, ethnicity, or size. She should know. She’s been dancing since she was 8 years old and aging hasn’t stopped her. It is a vivacious, beautiful, and uplifting experience. “It makes you aware of your senses—how you see, hear,” Bynum believes.
Bynum began with traditional ballet, then shifted to modern dance. She moved from Baltimore at 19 to begin school at Creighton University. A business degree wasn’t important to Bynum. “Dance classes were my love,” she says. “But unless you are teaching dance, you are not assured a position to support yourself.” She continued taking dance classes and studied ethnic forms of popular dances of the 1970s, including African, Polynesian, and belly dancing. In addition, she performed modern dance with the UNO Moving Company. In 1980, Bynum started teaching her first classes at the YWCA and continued to do so for the next 25 years. When Bynum retired seven years ago from her day job as a timekeeper for the Omaha Fire Department, she needed… well…something more. “You need to move more as you age, not less. If you don’t move, you aren’t able to move as well,” Bynum believes. “You should open up a studio,” a long-time friend and fellow dance instructor told her. “Hmm…that’s what people do when they are young,” Bynum replied. With some help from her friend, Bynum did the unthinkable by opening her first studio. After three years, Bynum realized the ceiling was too low for the wavy and slinky arm movements of belly dance. After searching, she discovered a spot in the Center Mall on 42nd Street. After that, it was just a matter of finding economical ways to create a studio. Bynum teaches four days a week and her crew puts on performances for The Durham Museum, Omaha Performing Arts, Renaissance fairs, and other organizations. The women sew their own costumes for a variety of different styles including tribal, folkloric, and Oriental belly dancing. A six-year attendee, Michelle Widhalm, 50, says Bynum is holistic in her approach. It is emotional and spiritualistic. Bynum’s mantra: breathe. “When I tell people I belly dance, it is interesting to see their reaction. Eyebrows raise,” Widhalm says. “Western culture sexualized the dance. For me, it is about the female connection.”
JANUARY
Widhalm was surprised the older generation seemed more open to the idea, commenting only on how it must be a good form of exercise. In fact, a 2003 study in the New England Journal of Medicine reported social dancing lowered the risk of dementia in the elderly by 76 percent—more than reading. It also reduces stress, releases serotonin, and improves overall physical health. Bynum’s parents passed away in their 50s, which has motivated her to keep exercising. If someone likes it, he/she will keep active. Belly dancing is multi-generational. “It’s more of an ageless environment,” Bynum says. Her oldest client started when she was 80 and quit at 90 due to arthritis. When Shakira entered the scene in the 2000s, shaking those hips that don’t lie, the belly dancing industry boomed. So what about those ripped abs? “I had those when I was young,” Bynum says tapping her black-stockinged feet on the floor to the beat of the music. “But it isn’t about that for me anymore.” Bynum steps in the front of the class in black leggings with a bright orange scarf tied to her waist, a dark blue shirt, and a whole lot of confidence. Bynum works with the three women on choreographed moves based on an old saying she modified. Walk forward, beauty before us. Walk backward, beauty behind us. It continues with the side, upward, and downward until the climax. Beauty within us. Wright squeals at the end in time with the music, arms raised, and all of them laugh together. Oh, and the secret to that shimmy? Bending the knees, breathing, and relaxing. Visit delladancing.com for more information.
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Free Hearing Exam by a Doctor of Audiologist & 60 free Trial.
“It doesn’t cost any more to have a Doctor you can trust”
BY LISA LUKECART PHOTOGRAPHY BY BILL SITZMANN DESIGN BY MATT WIECZOREK
Dr. Roger McGargill www.proaudiolgy.com
(402) 558-0440 for an appointment 4509 Leavenworth
JANUARY
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OBVIOUSLY OMAHA Valentine’s Day Endeavors Cupid Himself Endorses BY SENA EICHERT
THE MONTH OF February is an often-underappreciated time on the calendar of many Midwesterners. The cold temperatures, the snow—the long winter season is almost behind us, but the warm promise of spring still out of reach. However, shift perspective a smidge, and you might find a hidden gem or two in this fantastic metropolis. OpenTable.com certainly did when they awarded Omaha one of the Nation’s Most Romantic Cities in 2016.
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From the newly dating to the “old married couples,” we have your go-to guide for all things romantic in honor of St. Valentine. Cupid’s arrow is guaranteed to strike and captivate your sweetheart when you pull one of these activities out of your inventory. 01. HORSE-DRAWN CARRIAGE RIDES Omaha’s Old Market is a charming turn-of-the-century historic district located in downtown Omaha. It is listed in the National Register of Historic Places, and has an active nightlife, including some fine eateries perfect for any date night. What makes this particular area of Omaha unique, however, is its horse-drawn carriage rides (weather permitting, of course). With the beautifully lit, gas lamp-lined, brick-paved streets, a private ride with your Valentine is a fairytale way to end—or begin—an amorous evening. - mjcarriage.com/tours.html 02. THAT POTTERY PLACE Which pottery place? That Pottery Place (yes, that’s its name) is a great place for Valentine’s Day, especially for creative, artsy couples. Duos are welcome to bring in their favorite beverage and snacks to enjoy while they paint pre-fired ceramic sculptures of their choosing. The ceramics include everything from dinnerware to piggy banks that are just in need of a splash of color and a pinch of imagination. Pick out something to paint for each other, and unveil your masterpiece to your sweetheart. Ask about their Valentine’s Day discounts when booking. - thatpotteryplaceomaha.com 03. COUPLES COOKING CLASSES Omaha is home to some of the nation’s most influential chefs and renowned restaurants, so it makes sense that learning from the best is the way to go if you are looking to improve your culinary skills—or simply have a good time together. Upscale cookware and grocery boutiques like the Grey Plume and Williams-Sonoma offer cooking classes, some of which are led by famous chefs.
Call in advance to check their events, and book in advance to reserve a spot— especially this time of year. - thegreyplume.com/product-category/ cooking-classes - williams-sonoma.com/customerservice/store-locator.html 04. LAURITZEN GARDENS Experience one of the most inimitable romantic dinners in Omaha at Lauritzen Gardens. Among its intimate surroundings, guests dine on a three-course meal and a glass of wine for $55 per person. The ambiance is what makes this a distinctive Valentine’s Day date idea, but the food is exquisite as well. Taking your plans one step further, the gardens are also the perfect place to pop the big question. Reservations for Valentine’s Day dinner opened December 1, 2016. Spots fill up quickly, so call now. - lauritzengardens.org 05. THE ORPHEUM THEATER Omaha’s Orpheum Theater has served the arts community for nearly a century. A cornerstone of the city's cultural history, this former vaudeville house was constructed in 1927, and has since been restored impeccably. Its lavish décor and architecture, and its resounding acoustics make this elegant performing arts venue an incredibly romantic place to enjoy a show. The evening of Valentine’s Day, the Orpheum is showing Elvis Lives, a multimedia and live musical journey across Elvis' life that highlights the King’s greatest moments. Think quirkiness and class all rolled into one unique Valentine’s Day idea. - ticketomaha.com
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Roos
A HONG KONG EXPAT’S GUIDE TO CHINESE CUISINE IN OMAHA
C
HINESE LUNAR NEW Year falls on January 28 this
year. The holiday is like Thanksgiving, Christmas, and New Year’s all rolled into a week of celebrations. This year will be my third Lunar New Year in Omaha. Since relocating to the Midwest, I have developed a small go-to list for dishes that taste like home (or at least satiate my appetite until my next return visit to Hong Kong). When coworkers ask me to recommend “real” Chinese food, I often probe how adventurous they are with eating. Authentic Chinese cuisines do not usually come with a thick brown or red sauce. Sometimes, signature dishes also feature uncommon ingredients. Although I never fancied chicken feet, I know several European Americans who will gobble down the dish (which translates to “phoenix talons” in my native Cantonese language) at any opportunity. Chinese cuisines vary depending on region. Sichuanese (from western China) is known for its “mala” numbing spice. Cantonese (from Hong Kong and Guangdong) is famous for fresh seafood and dim sum. Dumplings, maybe even more than rice, are beloved in northern Chinese cuisines. You might even say Americanized Chinese food is authentic in its own way, with its distinct flavors and history woven into the story of Chinese migration.
BY MICHELE FAN // PHOTOGRAPHY BY BILL SITZMANN // DESIGN BY MATT WIECZOREK
OMAHA MAGAZINE
1. Fresh housemade dim sum
I was excited to see barbecue pork and duck hanging on display upon entering Canton House Restaurant during my first visit; the Cantonese diner reminds me of the typical Hong Kong-style café (also known as a “cha chaan teng”). The chef started his career in Hong Kong decades ago and has brought a long list of authentic Hong Kong dishes to his restaurant in northwestern Omaha. Dim sum—bite-size breakfast hors d’oeuvres—are freshly made to order; I highly recommend ordering a variety and enjoying them with a group of friends. Stuffed eggplant, fish slices in congee (rice porridge), and sliced beef with pan-fried rice noodles are among my top three choices. 4849 N. 90th St., No. 1, Omaha, NE 68134 402-505-9446 cantonhouseomaha.com
2. Savory Shandong cuisine
Tucked in the corner of a strip mall on 72nd Street, Blue and Fly Asian Kitchen is a homey eatery that is crowded with Chinese students every night. The traditional Chinese menu features a range of quick-fried and fish dishes that are iconic of Shandong cuisine. A bilingual handwritten menu beside the kitchen offers a further selection of seasonal delicacies. The owners are generous in sharing their cultural heritage with patrons; for example, in the last Mid-Autumn Festival, they gave out handmade “mooncakes” to diners to share celebration of the Chinese holiday. I have yet to order anything I do not enjoy at Blue and Fly (and I am definitely a frequent patron). My personal favorites include spicy shredded potato (a cold appetizer), spicy pig intestine (an entrée), and a specialty dessert—caramelized sweet potato. 721 S. 72nd St., Omaha, NE 68114 402-504-6545 blueflyasiankitchen.com
DINING // FEATURE
4. Dim sum brunch after church
New Gold Mountain is crowded with families after church on Sundays. The restaurant has an intimate atmosphere. Its fried items—such as salt and pepper shrimp, deep-fried minced pork shrimp dumplings, and crispy fried tofu are all fingerlicking good. Meat lovers can try barbecue pork with five spiced beef. The meat platter is a common dinner staple in Hong Kong, and is best enjoyed with a bowl of rice and some stir-fried vegetables. 15505 Ruggles St. No.105, Omaha, NE 68116. 402-496-1688 newgoldmountain.com
5. Mouthwatering tofu dishes
People may not associate Three Happiness Express with authentic Chinese food. But its kung pao tofu is a good representation of Chinese cooking. The tofu is perfectly fried to form a crispy crust; the dish is not drowned, rather it is drizzled with a light brown sauce. The restaurant’s steamed dumplings are also authentic, as long as you skip the sweet and spicy sauce and dip it in soy sauce. Friends from the neighborhood have professed a deep love for the crab rangoons, Princess Chicken, and Loc’s Chicken Wings (and these dishes are definitely American Chinese inventions). 5107 Leavenworth St., Omaha, NE 68106 402-558-8899 facebook.com/threehappinessexpress
6. Classic American Chinese food
Golden Palace has an old-school menu and an Oriental interior design that suggest the restaurant has been passed down through generations. The restaurant serves polished classic American Chinese food. The barbecue back ribs are the absolute bomb. 4040 N. 132nd St., Omaha, NE 68164 402-493-2777 goldenpalacene.com
3. Cantonese-style barbecue duck and barbecue pork buns 7. Unlock the secret menu Order a Cantonese-style duck (half) to go with a bowl of rice, and you will get an authentic Hong Kong lunch experience. Grand Fortune Chinese Restaurant also has an extensive dim sum menu—the baked barbecue pork pastry and baked barbecue pork bun are musttries as you may only find the steamed version in other dim sum shops in town. Steamed barbecue pork buns are known as “cha siu bao” in Cantonese. Cha siu bao, pork and shrimp dumplings (“siu mai”), and shrimp dumplings (“har gow”) are regular fixtures of dim sum brunch anywhere in the world. 17330 West Center Road, Omaha, NE 68130 402-697-9888 grandfortunecuisine.com
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The “secret menu” of Jade Palace offers authentic Chinese cuisines. Even if you don’t read Chinese, pick a protein and ask the server what he/she recommends. The owner suggested we try “water boiled fish”—beware though, the Sichuanese dish is cooked with a lot of red hot chili peppers. The heat index of the fish is a challenge (southerners, like me, are not known for eating spicy). Be sure to discuss the level of spiciness before ordering. 1702 Galvin Road South, Bellevue, NE 68005 402-558-8899 jadepalacebellevue.com continued on page 148
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OMAHA MAGAZINE
DINING // FEATURE
Scan this page with the LayAR app to learn about the Nebraska Chinese Lunar New Year's Celebration.
Canton House features local Cantonese favorites.
8. Hot pot special
China Garden Restaurant has a winter hot pot special. The communal dish is popular in colder months. Select meats and vegetables from a list, and the server will bring a pot of broth and a portable stove for you to cook the food in. The restaurant offers most of the favorites of Sichuanese cuisine. To drink, ask the server if sweet-sour plum juice is available. Other thirst-quenching options include Tsingtao beer and canned Chinese herbal tea, “Wong Lo Kat.” 8315 Tangier Way, Omaha, NE 68124 402-397-1995 chinagardenomaha.com
9. Fusion Chinese food
P.F. Chang’s modern take on Chinese food results in a range of light, savory fusion cuisine. I highly recommend the chicken lettuce wrap.
10. Oldest Chinese restaurant in town
The interior design of King Fong Cafe resembles that of Chinese courtyard houses. The wood carvings and chandeliers (imported from Canton, the old name of Guangzhou) are well-preserved—the visual enjoyment is a feast in itself. The restaurant is not only the oldest Chinese restaurant in town, it is the longest-running restaurant in the city. 315 1/2 S. 16th St., Omaha, NE 68102 402-341-3433 facebook.co/pages/ king-fong-cafe/117861274906131 * Note: King Fong Cafe announced its temporary closure in 2016 and had not announced a reopening date at the time of Omaha Magazine's publication deadline.
Westroads Mall, 10150 California St., Omaha, NE 68114 402-390-6021 pfchangs.com
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Another great way to discover new dishes is to ask the server what Chinese customers have ordered. If something looks delicious at another table, ask your server what it is. For anyone looking to celebrate the Lunar New Year with a Chinese feast, please note that restaurants may close during the festival, so check ahead to confirm if they are open. Authenticity aside, I absolutely love when fortune cookies arrive with the bill. The American Chinese invention (or American Japanese, depending on the origin story) coincides with Chinese affinity for auspicious signs. Happy Lunar New Year! May your fortune cookie bring good luck!
How do you say “Happy New Year” in Chinese?
“Gong hei fat choi!” That’s Cantonese (the language of Hong Kong and Guangdong).
“Xin nian kuai le!” That’s Mandarin (the official language of mainland China and Taiwan).
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OMAHA MAGAZINE
A+C // CINEMA
Gabrielle Union continued from page 29 She says it was liberating to play a background character. “Part of that was just being much more committed to the character than when I was younger. When you’re starting out, you want to stand out in every single role. I’m not as concerned about that anymore. I have enough projects where my face is recognizable and my name is out front…I’m much more interested in being fulfilled creatively.” The film was shot on an actual Georgia plantation that stood in for the site where the historical events took place in Virginia. The dark spirit of the plantation’s past weighed heavy on Union and company.
“EVERY ACTOR OF COLOR ON THAT SET FELT THE PAIN AND THE HORROR THAT OUR ANCESTORS FELT. IT'S IN THE SOIL, IT'S IN THE AIR. YOU CAN'T ESCAPE IT.” “Every actor of color on that set felt the pain and the horror that our ancestors felt. It’s in the soil, it’s in the air. You can’t escape it, you really can’t escape it.” She is offended that the former plantation used in the film is rented out for weddings and parties. “It’s unfathomable,” she says. She considers the conversations she and Wade must have with their boys about the threats facing young black males “infuriating.” “How do you explain that to children?” She’s banking on Birth to trigger change. “What we keep saying is, it’s not a movie, it’s a movement. No one I know who’s seen the film is unmoved and unchallenged to re-examine everything. So I hope people walk out of the theater energized and inspired to do better, to really identify oppression and to fight back against it.” Visit bet.com/shows/being-mary-jane for more information.
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Jason Brasch's Epic Drink
OMAHA MAGAZINE
M
ARY TUDOR’S BLOODY reign over
England in the 16th century— when she turned the nation back to Catholicism, burned heretics at the stake, and killed some 300 Protestants—is believed to have inspired the world's most popular alcoholic hangover cure in the 20th century. But it was not until the new millennium that the drink was perfected by chef Jason Brasch at Report In Pub, located in Omaha’s Bel Air Plaza. For in a world of concocted stunt drinks, Report In Pub has defied convention to manifest the most complicated and violent Bloody Mary since the Tudor queen herself. Brasch, like a mad scientist, says he has tried many unusual cocktail recipes over the years. “I usually try and make things off ideas I see randomly online,” he says. “Many of them I try and fail, but I always like to try them. I was always good at making Bloody Marys, so having a good mix was easy.” When asked where the idea to make this particular Bloody Mary recipe came from— topped with a cheeseburger, fried pickle spears, onion rings, chicken wings, a nonfried pickle, olives, celery, and bacon skewered together, all levitating above a giant 36-ounce mug—Brasch admits there was indeed more to the story. “The idea came because we were exploring the attic and storage spaces in the bar when we found the mugs,” Brasch says. “My friend was hungover and loved my Bloody Marys. He wanted a little sampler of a couple of the [menu] items, and a mini burger, because he was too hungover to eat too much of anything.” Brasch says his groggy compadre told him a hangover special for people with all those snacks would make a great Bloody Mary deal. “I had seen places do Bloody Marys with a bunch of food online,” Brasch says. “So I found a skewer and used it to make it look fancy. I still have the picture from my friend with the first one on Facebook.”
DINING // PROFILE
“We made a Facebook post as kind of a joke, and people started coming in for it,” Brasch says. “We get a lot of nurses and people from the neighborhood who have been coming in since the '60s.” According to Brasch, he went to college to become a civil engineer, thus explaining how he managed to design a leaning tower of bar snacks that doesn't tip over when served. Though his reasons for switching from engineering to hospitality are shrouded in mystery, Brasch says the career change has been lucrative. “My grandmother had always told my mom to invest in alcohol, hair salons, and tobacco because she said they were all recession proof,” Brasch says of some of the legal things people do for money. “I graduated from the University Nebraska-Lincoln with a civil engineering degree in 2009, but my mom and I wanted to get into the bar business because we realized the potential for a neighborhood pub if run correctly.” It was a good bet. Brasch says they got a “super-good deal” on the bar. With his mother retiring and looking for something new and fun to do, the bar has become a family investment project. It’s the customers, however, who get a supergood deal—whether they need to deal with a bloody queen or a bloody-wicked hangover. Visit reportinpubomaha.com for more information.
R.I.P. Bloody Mary (Tudor)
What started as a joke soon had neighborhood folks coming in droves.
BY GREG JERRETT PHOTOGRAPHY BY BILL SITZMANN DESIGN BY MATT WIECZOREK JANUARY
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Birrieria El Chalan A Home For Traditional Mexican Food in South O
BY NIZ PROSKOCIL PHOTOGRAPHY BY BILL SITZMANN DESIGN BY MATT WIECZOREK
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OMAHA MAGAZINE
S
DINING // REVIEW
TEP INSIDE BIRRIERIA El Chalan, and
the sizzle of grilled meat along with the aromatic scents of cumin, chiles, and other spices are the first signs that Mexican food fans are in for a treat. And once they start digging into a plate of tacos, tortas, or tostadas, they will realize this place is not about Tex-Mex, fusion, or modern Mexican. Instead, the focus is on homestyle, traditional food that, for the most part, is flavorful and done well.
Although there is nothing fancy about the outside or inside of the small, locally owned spot near 24th and J streets in South Omaha. The spare, simple restaurant is a fun, casual, and welcoming place to eat. El Chalan serves many of the classic favorites one would expect at a Mexican restaurant, but it also offers cuisine from the state of Jalisco in west-central Mexico. Dishes such as birria, a spicy, savory stew made with goat or beef are popular among many patrons. For our recent first-time visit to the restaurant, my dining partner and I skipped the specialties and stuck to more familiar fare. Complimentary chips and salsa are a great way to start. I could have sat there all day munching on the crispy tortilla chips and fiery red salsa. Medium spicy with a hint of smokiness, the salsa is terrific both as a dip and drizzled on nearly everything. Equally addictive is the house-made guacamole. Slightly chunky with chopped onion, tomato, and cilantro, it boasts a salty, spicy, citrusy balance. The kitchen does amazing things with tacos, too. My dining partner, a former South O resident who has eaten tacos all over the neighborhood, said they are the best he has tried locally. Diners can choose from more than a half-dozen meat options, ranging from marinated pork to beef tongue. We went with carne asada (grilled steak) tacos.
Blistered jalapeños come on the side.
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OMAHA MAGAZINE
Warm corn tortillas, soft yet sturdy, hold a generous amount of tender, seasoned steak chopped into small pieces, dressed with onion and cilantro. Diners can add accompanying garnishes of sliced radish, lime, and a blistered whole jalapeño for added texture and flavor. Tortas, a popular Mexican sandwich, are offered with a choice of meat, topped with lettuce, avocado, pickled jalapeño, and other ingredients on an oval-shaped roll with a pillowy interior and grilled exterior. We tried a torta con lomo (pork loin sandwich). The meat was tender and flavorful, but the bun started falling apart under the weight of all the filling before we could finish.
DINING // REVIEW
I’m a huge fan of chile relleno—a poblano pepper stuffed with mild white cheese, battered, and then fried until golden brown—but the restaurant’s version missed the mark for me. A zesty tomato-based sauce drowned the pepper, making the breading soggy. And I thought the sauce was too thin and watery. The entree comes with fluffy seasoned rice and creamy refried beans. The restaurant takes cash only, but you won’t need much. Tacos cost $2; entrees run about $8. Despite the shortcomings, our overall dining experience was satisfying. Those looking for a casual, low-key spot that highlights traditional flavors of Mexico will find it at Birrieria El Chalan.
BIRRIERIA EL CHALAN 4964 DODGE ST. 402-558-0801 FOOD SERVICE AMBIANCE PRICE $ OVERALL 5 STARS POSSIBLE
Visit facebook.com/pages/birrieria-elchalan/168661723148405 for more information.
Torta con lomo
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HAPPY HOURS 9443UBCB2BAd_fnl.pdf
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12/1/14
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WINE THERAPY THURSDAYS
$10 BOTTLES OF WINE ALL DAY LONG
SUNDAY BRUNCH 10AM-2PM
BLOODIES & BOTTOMLESS MIMOSAS /beyondgolf for more information
402.916.4PAR (4727)
120th & Giles | beyondgolfomaha.com
It’s Warm Inside!
Tacos are available with a variety of meats.
Walking Distance to CenturyLink Center & TD Ameritrade Park
402.346.9116 | 501 N. 13th Street | theMattOmaha.com /oldmattressfactory
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@Matt_factory
OMAHA MAGAZINE
DINING // GUIDE
AMERICAN DJ’S DUGOUT - $
636 N 114th St. (402-498-8855) 1003 Capitol Ave. (402-763-9974) 10308 S 23rd St. (402-292-9096) 2102 S 67th St. (402-933-3533) 180th & Q St. (402-292-9096) Hwy 75 & Oak Hill Rd. (402-298-4166) Catch all of the action at four Omaha locations. Featuring burgers, sandwiches, wraps, salads, appetizers, and an impressive drink menu along with HD TVs and projectors. Home to Blazin’ Pianos, Omaha’s only dueling piano concept. djsdugout.com
FLATIRON CAFE - $$
402-344-3040 1722 St. Mary's Ave. Our classics endure for a reason...The Flatiron Cafe staff has been serving well-prepared contemporary cuisine, in one of Omaha's most beautiful dining rooms, since 1995. We are committed to old-school hospitality, taking care to honor your most special or casual occasions, with all the attention and style that our talented staff can provide. Robustly delicious food, in the historic Hotel Flatiron, close to our exceptional downtown theaters, hotels, and commerce. Tuesday through Saturday evenings from 5pm—reservations suggested at opentable. com or 402-344-3040. theflatironcafe.com.
JAMS- $$
7814 Dodge St.(402-399-8300) 1101 Harney St. in the Old Market (402-614-9333) Jams is an Omaha restaurant legacy. An American Grill that offers a melting pot of different styles and varieties of food dishes made with high-quality ingredients that pair well with award-winning wines or creative cocktails.
Get Get a Little Saucy.
LE PEEP - $
177th & Center St. (402-934-9914) 156th & W. Dodge Rd. (402-408-1728) 120th & Blondo St. (402-991-8222) Le Peep puts a wholesome perspective on your favorite neighborhood breakfast and lunch spot. Fresh. Simple. Elegant. Inviting. We put the emphasis on people, both patrons and staff. We focus on providing each of our guests the fresh food and friendly service that they have come to expect. Open daily 6:30am-2pm.
LOUIE’S WINE DIVE - $ MC, V
402-884-8966 16820 Wright Plz. Creative gourmet comfort food, and a funky, fun atmosphere. Great wines, many of which come from small vineyards, at a great value. Gourmet comfort food is made fresh, using eco-friendly and local ingredients whenever possible. Mon. 4-10pm, Tue.-Thu. 11am-10pm, Fri./Sat. 11am-11pm, and 10am-8 pm.
SPEZIA SPEZIA SPECIALTIES SPECIALTIES FRESH • ANGUS ANGUS BEEF BEEF FRESH SEAFOOD SEAFOOD • INNOVATIVE • RISOTTO RISOTTO INNOVATIVE PASTA PASTA •
MILLARD ROADHOUSE - $ MC, V
402-891-9292 13325 Millard Ave. The all-American neighborhood grill Millard Roadhouse is perfect for the whole family, with huge portions, great service and even better food. From roasted chicken to fried green tomatoes, there's something for every taste, and trust us, you're not going to leave hungry. Also serving Sunday brunch and the best happy hour in the area. Mon.-Wed. 11-9pm, Thu.-Sat. 11am-10pm, Sun. 10am-9pm.
GNOCCHI SALMON DAILY DAILY GNOCCHI • • FRESH FRESH SALMON
SATURDAY LUNCH [11am–4 pm] SATURDAY NOW OPEN 7 DAYS A[11am–4 WEEKpm]
$10
COCKTAIL HOUR COCKTAIL HOUR COCKTAIL HOUR
OFF ANY TICKET OVER OFF OVER $25 $25 NO CASH VALUE.EXPIRES EXPIRES02/28/2017 12/31/16 NO CASH VALUE. EXPIRES 12/31/2011 NO CASH EXPIRES 12/31/2011 NO CASH VALUE.
MONDAY ––SATURDAY MONDAY SATURDAY EVERY DAY FROM 4-6PM 44––66PM PM ALL COCKTAILS, GLASS WINE ALL ASS ALLCOCK COCKTAILS, TAILS,GLGL ASSWINE WINE AND BEERS ARE HALF PRICE AND ANDBEERS BEERSARE AREHALF HALFPRICE PRICE DINING GUIDE LEGEND
CALL CALL FOR FOR RESERVATIONS RESERVATIONS••402-391-2950 402-391-2950 CENTRAL LOCATION LOCATION • STREET EXIT CENTRAL • 3125 3125 SOUTH SOUTH 72ND 72NDSTREET STREET •• EASY EASYACCESS ACCESSOFF OFFI-80 I-80• •72ND 72ND STREET EXIT
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Located “just a wink from the link”,
we have everything you might desire for lunch & dinner, a night out or in planning your next event.
OMAHA MAGAZINE
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LO-LO’S CHICKEN & WAFFLES - $
402-991-9400 7051 Ames Ave. What came first? The chicken or the waffle? Lo-Lo’s Chicken and Waffles has the juiciest, most flavorful fried chicken and the fluffiest, melt-in- your-mouth waffles, which has created an underground soul food revolution–one that’s slowly spreading downright deliciousness across the country.
STELLA’S - $ MC, V, AE, DC
402-291-6088 106 S Galvin Rd., Bellevue Since 1936, we’ve been making our Stella’s world-famous hamburgers the same way. The family secrets have been handed down to each owner to ensure that your burger is the same one you fell in love with the first time you ever tried Stella’s. And if it’s your first time, we know you’ll be back! Mon.–Sat. 11am–9pm., Sun. closed. stellasbarandgrill.com
UPSTREAM BREWING COMPANY - $$
514 S. 11th St. (402-344-0200) 17070 Wright Plz. (402-778-0100) Upstream features an extensive menu of new American pub fare including appetizers, thin-crust pizzas, superb steaks featuring Omaha Steaks, fresh fish, pasta, salads, sandwiches, and a great children’s menu. Fresh, handcrafted beer and root beer on tap. Extensive wine list. Call ahead for group reservations or to be placed on our waiting list. Visit our classic, upscale poolroom located on the second level.
501 N. 13th Street | 402.346.9116 theMattOmaha.com /the old mattress factory omaha
@Matt_factory
VARSITY SPORTS CAFE & ROMAN COIN PIZZA - $$
4900 Dodge St., Omaha, NE 68132 (402-934-9439) 9735 Q St., Omaha, NE 68127 (402-339-1944) 14529 F St., Omaha, NE 68137 (402-505-6660) 3504 Samson Way Bellevue, NE 68123 (402-932-1944) VSC & RCP has been in business for over 20 years with four metro locations—in your neighborhood. From our made-from-scratch dough and signature marinara sauce, to our quality toppings and real cheese, we have perfected the hand-tossed pizza! We have state-of-the-art satellite service so you can watch all the games on our HD televisions. Sun.Thu. 11am-1pm, Fri. & Sat. 11am-2am. varsityromancoinpizza.com.
ICE CREAM TED AND WALLY’S - $ MC, V
402-341-5827 1120 Jackson St. Come experience the true taste of homemade ice cream in the Old Market. Since 1986, we’ve created gourmet ice cream flavors in small batches using rock salt and ice. We offer your favorites plus unique flavors like margarita, green tea, Guinness, and French toast. Special orders available.
11th & Harney
ITALIAN
78th & Dodge
DON CARMELO'S PIZZERIA - $
402-933-3190 10821 Prairie Brook Rd. Omaha's first and finest New York-style pizza, stromboli, calzones, oven-toasted hoagies, Philly cheesesteaks, pasta, salads, beer, and wine. We also feature take-out and delivery and can cater your special event, large or small. Tue.-Thu., 11am-9pm Fri. & Sat., 11am-10pm, Sun., Noon-8pm.
LA CASA PIZZARIA - $$ MC, V
402-556-6464 45th & Leavenworth St. La Casa Pizzaria has been serving Omaha its legendary Neapolitan-style pizza and pasta for 60 years now. We offer dine in, carry-out, party facilities, catering, and now pizza shipments to the 48 contiguous states. Open Tues.- Sat. at 11am and Sun. at 4:30pm. lacasapizzaria.net
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Thank you Omaha for voting us Best Family Restaurant!
“Serving The Best Chicken in Town Since 1997”
13325 Millard Ave. • 402-891-9292 www.millardroadhouse.com Omaha’s Only
Authentic German Restaurant
Locally Owned Since 1976
THE ORIGINAL
Whiskey Steak
Thanks for Voting Us
#1 BREAKFAST 9 YEARS in a Row!
Specializing in wedding and graduation cakes. German Strudel, Sauerkraut, and Schnitzel, and Beer.
Full bakery, fresh bread, donuts, and cakes!
10 min from downtown Omaha
5180 Leavenworth
402-553-6774
www.gerdasgermanrestaurant.com
Hours: Mon.-Fri. 11am-2pm Cocktail Hour: 3pm-5pm Dinner nightly from 5pm Reservations Accepted Gift Cards Available
Thank you for your support for over 40 years!
2121 South 73rd Street. 402-391-7440 | DroverRestaurant.com JANUARY // FEBRUARY • 2017 / 159 / BESTOFOMAHA.COM
177th & Center • 934-9914 156th & Dodge • 408-1728 120th & Blondo • 991-8222 Drive-Thru Open (Center St. Only) Open Daily 6:30am-2:00pm Serving Breakfast & Lunch All Day!
OMAHA MAGAZINE
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LO SOLE MIO RISTORANTE ITALIANO - $$
Thank You
For Voting Us
#1
402.884.8966 16920 Wright Plz. Omaha, NE louieswinedive.com
GYROS 3 Omaha locations 1 Lincoln location kingkongfastfood.com
402-345-5656 3001 S. 32nd Ave. Located in the middle of a neighborhood, surrounded by charming homes. Everyone is greeted with homemade bread, a bowl of fresh tomatoes and basil, a bowl of oven-roasted garlic cloves, specialseasoned olive oil, and at night, a jug of Chianti! The menu includes a large variety of pasta, chicken, veal, seafood, and even a delicious New York steak. Traditional dishes such as lasagna, tortellini, and eggplant parmigiana are also available. Lunch also offers panini, salads, and one of the best pizzas in town. Patio seating, full bar, and a great wine list complete the atmosphere. No reservations, except for private rooms.
PASTA AMORE - $$ MC, V, AE
402-391-2585 11027 Prairie Brook Rd. Pastas are made fresh daily, including tortellini, fettuccine, and capellini. Daily specials and menu items include a variety of fresh seafood and regional Italian dishes, such as linguini amore and calamari steak, penne Florentine, gnocchi, spaghetti puttanesca, and ossobuco. Filet mignon is also offered for those who appreciate nationally renowned Nebraska beef. To complement your dining experience, the restaurant offers a full bar and extensive wine list. Be sure to leave room for homemade desserts, like the tiramisu and cannoli. Lunch: 11am-2pm Dinner: 4:30pm Reservations recommended.
PITCH - $$ MC, V, AE, DC
402- 590-2625 5021 Underwood Ave. OpenTable Diners' Choice 2014 HotSpot Restaurants in America. Keeping up with the traditional way the first pizzas in Italy were made, our pizzas are cooked in a coal-fired oven. The menu also features seafood, hand-cut steak, housemade pastas, and a burger full of flavor! Our goal is to provide you with local, housemade, and imported ingredients. We offer a happy hour menu through the week. And, our bar provides an array of in-house concoctions as well as your traditional libation! Our wine selection is well-thought and most impressive! You will enjoy Pitch! Mon. 3pm-10pm Tue.-Thu. 11am-10pm, Fri.-Sat. 11am-11pm, Sun. 3-10pm. pitchpizzeria.com.
SPEZIA - $$$ MC, V
402-391-2950 3125 S. 72nd St. Choose Spezia for lunch or dinner, where you'll find a casual elegance that's perfect for business guests, get-togethers, or any special occasion. Exceptional food, wine, and service, with a delectable menu: fresh seafood, Certified Angus steaks, innovative pasta, risotto, gnocchi, cioppino, lamb, entrée salads, Mediterranean chicken, flatbreads, and fresh salmon daily. Enjoy a full bar, Italian and California wines, Anniversary/Lovers' Booth (call to reserve), private dining rooms, and wood-fired grill. Open Mon.-Sun. Cocktail hour: 4-6pm, when all cocktails, glass wine, and beers are half price. Evening reservations recommended.
ZIO’S PIZZERIA - $$ MC, V
7834 Dodge St. (402-391-1881) 12997 W. Center Rd. (402-330-1444) 1109 Howard St. (402-344-2222) Delivery, dine in, and carry out. Serving New York style pizza by the slice or whole pies, calzones, hoagies, pastas, salads, and garlic breads. Our pies are hand-stretched and baked in old-world ovens. We offer 35 of the freshest toppings; taste the freshest pizza at Zio’s! Family dining, open seven days a week. Lunch specials and beer and wine available.
DINING GUIDE LEGEND
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SPORTS FOOD
FUN! EST. 1993
www.romeosOMAHA.com
2014 TO 2017
FOUR YEARS RUNNING!
6 OMAHA METRO AREA LOCATIONS DOWNTOWN 10th & Capitol | 402-763-9974 AKSARBEN VILLAGE 67th & Center | 402-933-3533
MILLARD 180th & Q | 402-933-8844 BELLEVUE 23rd & Cornhusker | 402-292-9096
MIRACLE HILLS 114th & Dodge | 402-498-8855
PLATTSMOUTH Hwy 75 & Oak Hill | 402-298-4166
DJSDUGOUT.COM
PASTA AMORE Tradition Meats Deliciousness
lunch Mon-Fri: 11AM-2PM Dinner Mon-Sat: 4:30PM-Close Thank You Omaha for 30 Years of Patronage!
• Locally owned • Reservation accepted • Private Parties
Rockbrook Village (108th & Center)
402.391.2585
www.pastaamore.com Like Us on Facebook
11732 W Dodge Rd, Omaha, NE 68154 402· 496·0222 | jericosomaha.com JANUARY // FEBRUARY • 2017 / 161 / BESTOFOMAHA.COM
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OMAHA’S ORIGINAL STEAKHOUSE
DINING // GUIDE
MEXICAN FERNANDO’S - $ MC, V, AE • Proudly serving visitor & locals for 90 years. • Featured on CNN.com Best Meat Cities in America • Serving hand cut steaks, aged on premise and slow roasted prime rib with pride. 402-731-4774 www.johnnyscafe.com 27th & ‘L’ St., Kennedy Frwy, ‘L’ St. Exit 8 Minutes from Downtown Omaha.
Best Of Omaha 11 Years Running
WHERE WHERE GOOD GOOD FOOD FOOD AND AND GOOD GOOD SERVICE SERVICE NEVER NEVER GO GO OUT OUT OF OF STYLE. STYLE.
Thanks to our customers for voting us the “Best Burger in Omaha”
7555 Pacific St. (402-339-8006) 380 N. 114th St. (402-330-5707) Featuring Sonoran-style cooking made fresh daily. Catering and party rooms also available. Mon.-Thu., 11am-10pm; Fri.-Sat., 11am-11pm; Sun., 4-9pm.
LA MESA - $$ MC, V
158th & W. Maple Rd. 156th & Q Sts.(402-763-2555) 110th St. & W. Maple Rd.(402-496-1101) Ft. Crook Rd. & Hwy 370 in Bellevue (402-733-8754) 84th St. & Tara Plaza in Papillion (402-593-0983) Lake Manawa Exit in Council Bluffs (712-256-2762) Enjoy awesome enchiladas, fabulous fajitas, seafood specialties, mouth-watering margaritas, and more at La Mesa! Come see why La Mesa has been voted Omaha’s #1 Mexican restaurant 13 years in a row! Sun.-Thu. 11am-10pm, Fri. & Sat. 11am-10:30pm. lamesaomaha.com
MARGARITA'S MEXICAN RESTAURANT - $
2505 S. 132nd St. (402-991-3555) 4915 S. 72nd St. (402-393-7515) Margarita's is a business with more than seven years in the food world. We offer authentic food at two nice locations in Omaha where you can enjoy a nice moment with your family.
SEAFOOD CHARLIE’S ON THE LAKE - $$
Stella’s Bar and Grill “Serving World Famous Hamburgers since 1936”
106 Galvin Rd • Bellevue, NE • 402-291-6088 • Open Monday-Saturday, 11:00 am - 9:00 pm
402-894-9411 4150 . 144th St. Charlie’s is the only fresh-fish-daily seafood restaurant in Omaha. Features a relaxed yet contemporary atmosphere that is fun for all ages. Besides fresh seafood, Charlie’s is the home of the James Bond-style martini (shaken, not stirred) in over 20 varieties in addition to over 60 wines. Mon.-Thu., 11am-10pm; Fri. 11am-11pm Sat., 4:30pm-11pm.
SPECIAL DINING CRESCENT MOON ALE HOUSE - $
Great Seafood Great Prices
402-345-1708 3578 Farnam St. Founded in 1996, we’ve grown into Beer Corner USA with the additions of The Huber Haus German Beer Hall, Max and Joe’s Belgian Beer Tavern, and Beertopia, Omaha’s Ultimate Beer Store. With more than 60 beers on tap and Omaha’s best reuben sandwich, we are a midtown beer lover’s destination. Hours: Mon.-Sat., 11am-2am. Kitchen hours: Mon.-Wed., 11am-1pm; Thu.-Sat. 11am-midnight. Closed Sun. beercornerusa.com.
FETA'S GYRO & CATERING - $$
743 N. 114th St. (402-504-4976) 119 S. 40th St. (402 558 5623) Fast casual restaurant serving Greek and American foods. Featuring homemade baklava! The 119 S. 40th location has a drive-thru for your convenience.
GERDA’S GERMAN RESTAURANT & BAKERY - $
402-553-6774 5180 Leavenworth St. Omaha’s only authentic German restaurant, a little piece of Germany in Omaha. Gerda herself makes homemade spaetzle, schnitzels, and rouladen. Fresh-made soups, red cabbage, sauerkraut, and dumplings are a few other treats. Stay for a dessert of Black Forest cake or grab fresh bakery for breakfast on your way out. Check hours at gerdasgermanrestaurant.com.
DINING GUIDE LEGEND
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shucksfishhouse.com
1218 S 119th St (119th & Pacific) . 1911 Leavenworth St .
16901 Wright Plz (168th & Center)
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THANK YOU OMAHA FOR VOTING US BEST PIZZA 25 STRAIGHT YEARS!
Hand-stretched New York style pizza
O’Connor’s Irish Pub 1217 Howard St. • Omaha, NE 68102 402-934-9790 • oconnorsomaha.com Family Owned & Operated Authentic Italian Cuisine Party Rooms Available Carry Out Available
Serving Lunch & Dinner
Mon-Sat
391-1881 7834 Dodge St.
CALZONES · PASTA · SALADS LUNCH SPECIALS · APPETIZERS
330-1444
BEER · WINE · MARGARITAS
HAPPY HOUR EVERY DAY FROM 4PM-6PM
ZIOSPIZZERIA.COM 3001 S. 32nd Ave • Omaha, NE 402-345-5656
344-2222
12997 W. Center Rd. 1109 Howard St. (Old Market)
9748-2016 UBC-omahamag-third square_fnl.pdf
Best Greek
Family Owned Since 1983
Catering ~ Party Room Available Homemade, Fresh Food ~ Always 3821 Center St. 402/346-1528
GreekIslandsOmaha.com
Mandarin • Hunan Szechuan • Cantonese Shanghai 4040 N 132nd St (132 & Maple) 402.493.277 | GoldenPalaceNE.com JANUARY // FEBRUARY • 2017 / 163 / BESTOFOMAHA.COM
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OMAHA MAGAZINE
DINING // GUIDE
GREEK ISLANDS - $
402-346-1528 3821 Center St. Greek cuisine with specials every day at reasonable prices. Well known for our gyro sandwiches and salads. We cater and can accommodate a party for 65 guests. Carryout and delivery available. Mon.-Thu., 11am-9pm; Fri.-Sat., 11am-10pm; Sun., 11am-8pm.
HORSEMEN’S PARK- $
Old Market
Benson
1120 Jackson Street • 402.341.5827 6023 Maple Street • 402.551.4420 tedandwallys.com
10 Years In A Row
402-731-2900 6303 Q St. One-dollar pints, $1.75 domestic bottles, and $2 well drinks for our happy hour Mon.-Wed., 5pm-8pm. Tuesdays are 25-cent wings from 3-8pm, Wednesdays are Steak Night after 5pm, Thursdays are 75-cent tacos and $1.75 margaritas after 5pm, and Fridays are Prime Rib Dinner after 5pm. Daily specials seven days a week. Open at 10am. horsemenspark.com
JAIPUR INDIAN RESTAURANT AND BREWERY - $$$
402-392-7331 10922 Elm St. A casual restaurant in a relaxed atmosphere. Dinner entrees include fresh vegetables, grilled Colorado lamb sirloin, sushi-grade ahi, tandoori marinated grilled salmon, and tandoori grilled beef tenderloin to name a few. A wide selection of wines and liquor, as well as on-site brewed beer. Lunch: Thu. and Fri., 11am-2pm Dinner: Sun.-Thu., 5pm-9:30pm; Fri and Sat., 5pm-10:30pm.
Fernando’s Cafe and Cantina
Bringing Italy to Omaha Since 1919
Sonoran Style Cooking Made Fresh Daily.
Catering and Party Rooms Also Available.
380 N. 114th St. Omaha, NE 68154 402.330.5707
7555 Pacific St. 1600 Washington St. Omaha, NE 68114 Blair, NE 68008 402.339.8006 402.533.4450
fernandosomaha.com
J.COCO - $$$
402-884-2626 5203 Leavenworth St. The building that once housed a beloved neighborhood grocery has a new future. Built as a grocery back in 1925, it is now home to J. Coco. Our seasonal menus, rooted in tradition, showcase our natural ingredients. Local, organic, and sustainable when available. We feature craft bar tending, housemade desserts and pastas. We celebrate traditional… With a modern twist. Lunch (Mon.-Fri. 11am-2pm). Dinner (Mon.-Sat. 5pm-close) jcocoomaha.com
MARRAKECH GOURMET - $$
Take a Taste of Italy Home Today! Tues-Thurs: 8:30am-8pm Friday: 8:30am-8:30pm Saturday: 7:30am-8pm Sunday: 7:30am-6pm
402.345.3438 621 Pacific St, Omaha NE orsibakery.com
Try Omaha’s Favorite Reuben!
402-502-0739 504 N 33rd St Sit back and prepare for an authentic Moroccan dining experience. Choose from a savory array of traditional entrees such as chicken, lamb, and vegetarian dishes, influenced by a variety of Mediterranean flavors. We invite you to relax and enjoy an evening of fine food and extraordinary hospitality. Visit today! Sun.-Sat. 11am-10pm. marrakechgourmetomaha.com
NOSH RESTAURANT AND WINE LOUNGE - $$
Omaha’s largest selection of craft beers.
3578 Farnam St • 402-345-1708 www.beercornerusa.com
402-614-2121 1006 Dodge St. Located in downtown Omaha blocks away from the CenturyLink Center Omaha, Holland Performing Arts, and the Old Market—Nosh is the perfect place to gather and celebrate good times. Guests are sure to enjoy our comfortable relaxing atmosphere, diverse wine list, impressive cocktails, and food that will please any palate. noshwine.com
O’CONNOR’S IRISH PUB - $
Show us some
402-934-9790 1217 Howard St. Comfortable, relaxing atmosphere. Great before and after games. We offer pub style food—burgers, reubens, daily specials, and homemade soups—as well as all the traditional Irish favorite libations: Guinness, Harp, and Irish whiskey. Grill hours: Mon.-Thu., 11am-10pm; Fri.-Sat., 11am-10pm.
DINING GUIDE LEGEND
@OmahaMagazine
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SALT 88 - $$
402-991-9088 3623 N. 129th St. Brought to you by the owners of Hiro 88, Salt is a New American adventure in cuisine. It's a restaurant supported by a friendly staff, savory appetizers, and, most importantly, free cotton candy at the end of your meal. Guests are sure to notice that not only is the food unique, but its ambiance feels modern and inviting, making your meal not just delicious, but memorable. salt88.com.
STEAKS • CHOPS • SEAFOOD ITALIAN SPECIALTIES 7 private party rooms Seating up to 400 Lots of parking
TRAVEL DESIGN LOUNGE - $$ 1620 S. 10th Street
402-345-8313
www.casciossteakhouse.com
402-548-3280 16950 Wright Plaza Suite 151 Travel Design Lounge is a full service travel agency combined with a full bar and coffee shop. Come in anytime to enjoy drinks with friends over happy hour or let us guide you in planning the vacation of a lifetime. “Get Tripsy” and be inspired to travel!
STEAKHOUSES 801 CHOPHOUSE - $$$$
402-341-1222 1403 Farnam St. Designed with a 1920s-era New York chophouse in mind, 801 is the epitome of elegance. You will not forget the crisp white tablecloth, fine-dining experience. From our USDA prime-grade beef and jet-fresh seafood from all over the world, we are truly the best Omaha has to offer. Open seven nights a week.
Always a Large Selection of Fresh Fish
BROTHER SEBASTIAN'S - $$$
4150 SOUTH 144TH STREET • OMAHA • 894-9411
402-330-0300 1350 S 119th St Relax in the cozy Old World comfort of an early California monastery with friendly “monks” that pamper you in subdued, romantic surroundings, and savor the fresh, full flavors of USDA Choice Nebraska Angus Beef seared over an open flame. Brother Sebastian’s Steak House and Winery is locally owned and has been recognized as one of Omaha’s best restaurants for a delicious, romantic dining experience. Join us with your party of two or 50 and we’ll help make your special occasion enjoyable and memorable. Reservations accepted. Lunch: Mon.-Fri. 11am-2pm. Dinner: Mon-Thu. 5-9pm, Fri.-Sat. 5-10pm, Sun. 4-9pm.
CASCIO'S - $$
402-345-8313 1620 S. 10th St. Cascio's is Omaha's No. 1 steakhouse. We have been serving Omaha for 69 years. We feature steaks, chops, seafood, and Italian specialties. We have seven private party rooms, seating for up to 400 people and plenty of parking.
Lunch Mon-Fri 11-2 Dinner Mon-Sat 5-10
5203 Leavenworth st. Omaha, NE 68106
www.jcocoomaha.com
THE DROVER RESTAURANT & LOUNGE - $$$
402-391-7440 2121 S. 73rd St. Famous for the original Whiskey Steak. Truly a one of a kind Midwestern experience. Excellent food, wine, service, and value. Rare...and very well done. Lunch: Mon.–Fri. 11am– 2pm Cocktail Hour: 3-6pm. Dinner: nightly at 5pm. Reservations accepted.
JOHNNY'S CAFÉ - $$$ MC, V, AE
Always Local, Always Beautiful
402-731-4774 4702 S. 27th St. Years of quality dining and hospitality make Johnny's Café a restaurant to remember. We serve only the finest beef the Midwest has to offer. Aged steaks and prime rib are the specialties, with homemade bread and pies to complete a meal. An excellent wine list adds to the enjoyment at one of Omaha's original restaurants. Hours: Mon.-Sat., 11am-2pm and 5pm-9:30pm.
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. . BOLD ELEGANT ALLURING
Professional Jewelry Design, Creation and Repair 402.935.4367 3412 South 144 St. Omaha NE 68144
STATE OF NEBRASKA
LUCAS DEBARGUE, PIANO. Feb.
RODGERS AND CI N D E R E L L A . Jan.
JEFF DUNHAM “PERFECTLY UNBALANCED.”
Jan. 27-28. Meadville Store and Park, Ainsworth. The annual festival will include karaoke, live music, and a “Polar Plunge” into the Niobrara for participants with the true spirit of a polar bear. 402-497-2440 -meadvillestore.com
BRIDGES, SHARING OUR PAST TO ENRICH THE FUTURE. Jan. 6. Great Plains Art Museum, Lincoln. The exhibit features juried photos of Nebraska’s historical treasures from photographers across the state. Great Plains Art Museum will host the statewide traveling photography exhibition as a part of the state sesquicentennial celebration. 402-472-7211 -unl.edu/plains
7. Lied Center for Performing Arts, Lincoln. Fresh out of the International Tchaikovsky Competition in Moscow, this acclaimed French pianist will make his Nebraska debut with a program including Chopin, Beethoven, and more. 402-472-4747 -liedcenter.org
HAMMERSTEIN’S
27-29. Lied Center for Performing Arts, Lincoln. Experience a contemporary twist on the classic fairy tale in this Tony Award-winning Broadway musical. An enchanting orchestra and elaborate production will delight audiences young and old. 402-472-4747 -liedcenter.org
ERIC CHURCH: HOLDIN’ MY OWN TOUR. Jan.
13. Pinnacle Bank Arena, Lincoln. Church, who recently won the CMA’s Album of the Year for Mr. Misunderstood, is kicking off his “Holdin’ My Own” tour in Lincoln. Fans of this country-music star will be pleased to note that there is no supporting act on this tour— Church and his band will play two full sets. 402-904-4444 -pinnaclebankarena.com
Feb. 10. Pinnacle Bank Arena, Lincoln. Comic and ventriloquist extraordinaire Jeff Dunham will be sure to bring all his beloved characters to the Nebraska stop on his international tour. Audiences will experience new surprises, old favorites, and non-stop laughter as Dunham showcases his dedication to the craft. 402-904-4444 -pinnaclebankarena.com
DRIVE-BY TRUCKERS. Jan. 28. Bourbon The-
atre, Lincoln. Drive-By Truckers have always been outspoken, telling a distinctly American story via craft, WINGS OVER THE PLATTE. Feb. 10-April 9. character, and concept, all backed by sonic ambition Stuhr Museum of the Prairie Pioneer, Grand and social conscience. Founded in 1996 by singer/ Island. Artists will showcase paintings, sculpsongwriter/guitarists Mike Cooley and Patterson tures, and mixed media works dedicated to Hood, the band have long held a progressive fire life on the Platte River. This year’s featured Dec. in their belly. They play protest music fit for the artist is Kris Allphin, who specializes in the stadiums, designed to raise issues and ire. 8 p.m. challenging batik medium. 308-385-5316 -bourbontheatre.com -stuhrmuseum.org
3RD A NNUA L WOMEN’S W EL L NE S S W E E K E ND. Jan . 1 3 -1 5 . Ponca State
Park, Ponca. The retreat will feature presentations and activities on wellness, outdoor recreation, self-improvement, and more. 402-755-2284 -outdoornebraska.gov
5
LION IN WINTER. Jan.
19-29. Nebraska Wesleyan University T heatre, Lincoln . Henry II is nearing the end of his reign, and his sons and imprisoned wife are all potential successors in this classic drama. 402-465-2384 -nebrwesleyan.edu
RED HOT CHILI PEPPERS: GETAWAY TOUR. Jan. 20. Pinnacle Bank Arena, Lincoln. Fans will experience favorites from the band’s seventh album, which debuted at No. 1 on the Billboard Album Sales Chart, as well as other top-shelf hits. 402-904-4444 -pinnaclebankarena.com
NIOBRARA RIVER POLAR BEAR FESTIVAL.
4TH ANNUAL WINTER BLUES F E S T I VA L . Jan . 28. Stagecoach Mall
Antiques and Tasting Room, Fairbury. Enjoy an afternoon and evening with some of the area’s top local blues artists and the finest summer barbecue provided by Totally Smoked BBQ of Fairbury. Regional craft beers and wines will also be available. 402-613-2063 -stagecoachmall.com
JUSTIN FURSTENFELD OF BLUE OCTOBER. Feb. 12. Bourbon Theatre, Lin-
coln. Justin Furstenfeld is a record producer, artist, author, lead singer, guitarist, and lyricist of the rock band Blue October. Blue October has charted nine Top 40 alternative singles over eight albums. -bourbontheatre.com
LOOKING FOR A winter weekend get-
away? Look no further than Lincoln’s Historic Haymarket! With hotels and restaurants within walking distance, you can go ice skating in the Railyard entertainment district, take in a Husker basketball game at Pinnacle Bank Arena or enjoy one of the area’s eclectic shops. Visit www.lincoln.org/visit.
BETTMAN AND THE HALPIN TRIO. Jan. 20.
Tassel-Phelps County Center for the Performing Arts, Holdrege. Featured twice at Winfield’s Walnut Valley Festival, this group will entertain all music tastes with soulful ballads, folk/pop tunes, down-home mandolin, fiddle, and guitar picking. 308-995-2717 -thetassel.org
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OMAHA MAGAZINE
EXPLORE
LOVE AND INFORMATION.
Feb. 16-26. Nebraska Wesleyan Theatre, Lincoln. This play explores how technology and humanity interact, as it showcases the ever-growing strength of love alongside our splintered attention spans and altered worldviews. 402-465-2384 -nebrwesleyan.edu
INTO THE WOODS. Feb. 16-17. Lied Center for Performing Arts, Lincoln. This Tony Award-winning musical will transport audiences into an imaginative journey back into the woods, featuring captivating music and detailed set design. 402-472-4747 Feb. -liedcenter.org
KEGS, CORKS, CRAFTS. Feb. 18.
AND
16
Town of Arnold. Enjoy an opportunity to taste many Nebraska-made wines, beers, and food while browsing craft and retail vendors for unique items during this annual family-friendly event. 308-848-2211 -arnoldne.org
GREAT PLAINS GAME FESTIVAL. Feb. 24-26.
Park Center Banquet Hall, Lincoln. Last year, over 140 gamers gathered to share the joy of playing, laughing, and gaming face to face; this year’s event is sure to be even larger. Gamers will find the largest gaming library of any local event and volunteers on hand to offer instruction. 402-440-1513 -greatplainsgamefestival.com
IOWA MAMMA MIA! JAN. 17-22. Des Moines Civic
Center, Des Moines. This delightful musical combines favorite hits from ABBA and a charming tale of love, friendship, and comedy to keep audiences coming back for more. 515-246-2300 -desmoinesperformingarts.org
CHICAGO
THE MUSICA L . Feb. 21-23 . Orpheum Theatre, Sioux City. Part of the Broadway at the Orpheum season, the awardwinning musical features a beloved story of fame, fortune, and timeless jazz. 712-244-5000 -orpheumlive.com
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GAME OF THRONES LIVE CONCERT EXPERIENCE. Feb. 15. Sprint Center. The musical
tour will kick off in Kansas City, featuring composer Ramin Djawadi conducting an 80-piece orchestra and choir as they perform highlights from the Emmy-winning series. 816-949-7410 -sprintcenter.com
Feb.
15
DROPKICK MURPHYS WITH THE INTERRUPTERS AND BLOOD OR WHISKEY. Feb. 24. 7
Flags Event Center, Clive. The chart-topping Celtic punk band makes a stop in the Midwest on their world tour to commemorate the release of their ninth album, 11 Short Stories of Pain and Glory. 515-276-7003 -sevenflagseventcenter.com
PROFESSIONAL BULL RIDERS: BUILT FORD TOUGH K ANSAS CITY CLASH. Feb. 22-23.
Sprint Center. PBR returns for its 14th annual Kansas City Invitational, where eight seconds can define victory or defeat for each competitor. 816-949-7410 -sprintcenter.com
KANSAS CITY SIMPLY SWINGIN’ WITH SINATRA AND FRIENDS. Jan. 6-7. Kauffman Center for the
Performing Arts. Steve Lippia will serenade audiences with hits made famous by Bobby Darin, Nat King Cole, Sinatra, and other classics. 816-471-0400 -kcsymphony.org
PHOTOGR APH
51. Jan . 12-28 . Metropolitan Ensemble Theatre. Science and history collide with betrayal and fierce competition as this play races toward discovery. 816-569-3226 -metkc.org U.S. FIGURE SKATING CHAMPIONSHIPS.
Jan. 14-22. Sprint Center. The stars of U.S. figure skating will compete for a place at the World Figure Skating Championships and other top-American teams. 816-949-7410 -2017usfigureskatingchampionships.com
2017 ROYALS FANFEST.
Jan. 27-28. Kansas City Convention Center. Current and former Royals players will sign autographs for fans. The event will also feature interactive games and live performances, with a portion of proceeds going toward Royals Charities. 816-513-5000 -kansascity-royals.mlb.com
IT’S JANUARY IN Sarpy County and
cabin fever has set in. Head to Papio Fun Park January 28 from noon to 10 p.m. for their Cabin Fever Party. Unlimited wrist bands will be on sale for lazer runner, space ball and video games. Check out papiofunpark.com for details. Starting February 3rd, date night at the theater can chase away the winter blues. Go see Much Ado About Nothing at the Bellevue Little Theater, bellevuelittletheater.com for details.
I BOUGHT A RAINFOREST. Feb. 7. Kauffman
Center for the Performing Arts. National Geographic documentarian Charlie Hamilton James shares the harrowing story of his experience shooting photos of Peru’s Manu National Park. The tale begins with photography and expands into tough decisions James faced after discovering an illegal cocaine plantation on the land he purchased adjacent to the park. 816-994-7222 -events.nationalgeographic.com
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OMAHA MAGAZINE
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Bark Avenue Omaha Boarding• Daycare • Grooming 13706 C St. Omaha, NE 68144
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OMAHA MAGAZINE
NOT FUNNY
ONE FOR THE BOOKS BY OTIS TWELVE PHOTOGRAPHY BY BILL SITZMANN
W
ELL, ANOTHER YEAR has come
and gone. That is to say: last year has gone, and this new one has come. That is, to be more precise, assuming you are reading this essay sometime after the annual transition and all of the associated festivities and repercussions. Frankly, it’s hard for me to know when anything is coming or going anymore, so let's just agree that it's 2017, okay?” Last year really sucked. But then, most do. I mean, nothing good happened at all, am I right? Well, except the Cubs...they happened, and that was good. Even though allowances must be made for Cardinals fans, oh…and Cleveland fans, and maybe football fans, Cricket aficionados, purists of rounders, and other reprobates who hate baseball... So, I have to admit the Cubs winning might be considered a bad thing, and thus, part of a bad year... but for me it was good. I mean, the Cubs are World Champions! Who'da thunk it? I'm thrilled, and I hope that's fine with you. But except for the Cubs, last year really sucked. Well, except for Bob Dylan winning the Nobel Prize for Literature. That was cool, though again, there are those who can't stand Bob Dylan's voice...or people who actually think Terry Jacks' "Seasons in the Sun" is great stuff...or the few who dislike his stuff because it's hard to dance to...Well, just remember Bob didn't get the prize for his vocals or rhythms, but rather, for his poetic lyrics...and I memorized all the words to Highway 61 Revisited within 48 hours of buying my copy, so it was good for me. I hope that's fine with you. Anyway, except for the Cubs, and Bob Dylan's Nobel Prize, last year really sucked.
JANUARY
Then again...the Kepler Space Observatory discovered a total of 1,284 new exoplanets in 2016—that is, hitherto unknown worlds beyond our solar system. As a space nerd, I thought this was pretty amazing, wonderful stuff. I'm always happy when I find out new stuff, though it does make some people uncomfortable when they realize how small this little ball of ours is, and how fragile and insignificant the vast universe can make us feel. Also the Flat Earth Society took this news hard...so, for them, not so good, I guess. But for me, the news sent me back to my bookshelf and Arthur C. Clark. I hope you understand. Still, except for the Cubs, the Nobel Prize, and more than a thousand new planets, last year really sucked. And come to think of it, if I take time to sit back and think...I didn't fall off the roof. That's a good thing that didn't happen. I hauled out the old ladder, schlepped it out back, climbed it, and cleaned out the gutters with the leaf-blower I bought from a TV infomercial, and climbed down again without plunging to my death. I do realize that there are a few people in the world who would have taken great cheer from such a pedestrian end to my great career. I regret any disappointment I may have inflicted upon my enemies by surviving such a risky endeavor. Though it must be noted that none of my rivals died either, so in that sense, we broke even. Yeah, except for the Cubs, the Nobel, all the new planets, and the fact that I didn't die... Last year really sucked. Otis XII hosts the radio program, Early Morning Classics with Otis XII, on 90.7 KVNO, weekday mornings from 5 a.m. to 6:30 a.m. Visit kvno.org for more information.
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GOING GREEN
Help Omaha Magazine Fight Deforestation
OMAHA MAGAZINE HAS JOINED AN INNOVATIVE PROGRAM TO COMBAT DEFORESTATION. AND WE NEED YOUR HELP. The initiative, called Print Relief, plants the number of trees equal to our printing needs by calculating the trees consumed by the printing of our magazine. They plant the number of trees equal to our tree usage in endangered forests around the world.
IN THE NEXT YEAR ALONE, THIS INTERNATIONAL PROGRAM WILL ALLOW US TO BE RESPONSIBLE FOR THE PLANTING OF ALMOST 1,500 SAPLINGS IN BIOMES AROUND THE GLOBE THAT HAVE BEEN RAVAGED BY DEFORESTATION.
HERE’S WHERE YOU COME IN: We’d like readers to help us
choose where our trees should go. We will create a survey on our Omaha Magazine Facebook page. You can choose to help reforest Brazil, Mexico, Madagascar, the Dominican Republic, Burkina Faso, or Ethiopia. We will determine the top vote-getter and pass your wishes on to the folks at PrintReleaf. Then, together, we can help battle one of the greatest threats to the health of this planet.
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OMAHA MAGAZINE
SECTION
OMAHA MAGAZINE • OMAHA’S PREMIER PUBLISHER 5921 South 118 Circle • Omaha, Nebraska 68137 • 402.884.2000 • 402.884.2001 [fax]
LONGINES FEI WORLD CUPTM JUMPING & FEI WORLD CUPTM DRESSAGE FINALS The world’s best partnerships battling for one of the most coveted trophies in the sport of jumping. Five sessions for jumping or five sessions for dressage.
March 27 - April 2, 2017 CenturyLink Center Omaha • The FEI World Cup™ is one title every jumping rider wants to take, placing them amongst the greats of the sport, like legendary champions Ian Miller and the mighty Big Ben from Canada, or Great Britain’s John Whitaker and the magical Milton. • Top-flight Fédération Equestre Internationale riders will compete in evening events. • 50,000 expected attendance in 2017. • Over 30% of last year’s spectators were from outside Douglas County. • 500 hotel room nights purchased by competitors/spectators.
“FEI World Cup Jumping & FEI World Cup Dressage Finals will have a tremendous impact on our local community. The additional revenue, tourism, and education this kind of event produces energizes the spirit of our community and introduces families to the breathtaking athleticism, tradition, and beauty of an equestrian competition.” -Mike West, CEO
Contact your Omaha Magazine representative • 402-884-2000 • omahamagazine.com JANUARY
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